Today's Tech News: Notable or Not?

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1094390 "frictionless movement for >3m/ second on 10° inclined surface... device moves freely when levitation turned on, and when levitation was off, device could not move past the force of gravity, proving effectiveness of levitation component... levitate/ move freely when <150g total, which includes about 43g of payload... acoustic levitation uses cables that disturb positioning, overcome using wireless drive circuit for stable levitation height/ high-speed, flexible transport... machine assembly, biomedical, chemical" Related: Good vibrations: Ceramic material harvests electricity from waste energy https://techxplore.com/news/2025-10-good-vibrations-ceramic-material-harvests.html Maintaining high piezoelectric performance at porosity of 92%: Three-dimensionally interconnected porous ceramics enables highly sensitive piezoelectric response https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1121110

https://phys.org/news/2025-06-electron-shower-technique-advanced-piezoelectric.html#google_vignette "Synchronized Floating Potential HiPIMS: argon ions ignited, then shot in short, high‑energy pulses at aluminum nitride, knocking out atoms subsequently landing on substrate, forming thin film... applying voltage to substrate accelerates film‑forming target ions, but also process gas argon ions, causing electrical breakdown, overcome having electrons reach target faster than much larger ions, so that only the right ions end up in the thin film... RF filters, sensors, actuators, tiny energy converters, future: quantum"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1084704 "embedded exciters are ultra-thin, sound is crosstalk-free without external soundbars/ multi-channel speakers... localized sound experiences: from same screen car driver could hear navigation instructions while passenger listens to music, spatial sound can dynamically adapt to user’s head or hand movements, enhancing realism/ immersion... smartphones, laptops, automotive displays, VR"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1084057 " simple added fabrication step enables semiconductors to convert mechanical stress to electricity (piezoelectricity)... in cell phones filters incoming signal reducing noise, in cars deploys airbag/ monitors tire pressure, in microelectronics/ photonics enhanced scandium aluminum nitride film's piezoelectric response... heating film to 700°C for 2 hours improved piezoelectricity 8X... heating boosts material's properties, correcting defects in tiny crystals' thin layers... aerospace, health care, energy"

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-04-mimosa-seed-bio-piezoelectric-device.html#google_vignette "harvests finger pressure energy... supercapacitor's electrodes RGO/NiZTO-based, stores nanogenerator harvested energy ... ~13.5 V, ~2.98 μA piezoelectric output... bio-hydrogel exhibits 24 pC/N piezoelectric coefficient, 40.2% energy conversion efficiency... retains 87.5% of capacitance after 6K cycles, 125.4 Wh/kg energy density at 1200 W/kg power density... future: make less susceptible to biodegradation, enhance its piezoelectric response, scalability... medical implants/ sensors, wearables, robots, IoT" Related: Soil fungus forms durable hydrogels with potential for biomedical materials https://phys.org/news/2025-10-soil-fungus-durable-hydrogels-potential.html Flexible evaporation-induced generator for wearable power generation https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1106608 Nanodevice produces continuous electricity from evaporation https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases...

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1068334 "highly piezoelectric efficient lead zirconate titanate... ovecomes being hard/ brittle, so insensitive to deformation... curvature-specific coupling divides electrode into different sections so that electrical energy not canceled out, leading to an energy efficiency that is 280 times higher than that of conventional stretching piezoelectric energy harvesters... wearable energy harvester" Related: Thermal-electric aerosol printer to make piezoelectric biofilms at unprecedented speed https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1068908 Raindrop’s impact and physical dynamics of leaf response, with potential applications for agriculture and renewable-energy harvesting https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2024/12/understanding-leaves-resiliency-when-it-rains Multifunctional fibers revolutionize applications in various fields, from wearable technology to soft robotics https://www.impactlab.com/2025/01/28/next-generation-multifunctional-fib...

https://www.ul.ie/research/news/ul-researchers-develop-new-method-of-generating-eco-friendly-energy "Pb-FREE: low-cost, low-temperature, eco-friendly shaping/ gowing using silicon moulds... alternative to currently used ceramics/ growing biological crystals behaving in chaotic way... sensors in consumer electronics/ medical devices" Related: Precision-Shaped Crystals Cu2O Unlock New Potential for Clean Energy Catalysts https://www.asiaresearchnews.com/content/precision-shaped-crystals-cu2o-unlock-new-potential-clean-energy-catalysts New highly efficient material turns motion into power – without toxic lead https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1106944 Synergistic phase and octahedral tilt boundaries enable record BNT piezoelectricity https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1109308 Researchers engineer ultrathin lead-free films, advancing piezoelectricity https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1120227

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1063641 "μm/ nm -scale aluminum nitride mechanical resonators oscillate at much higher frequencies for long times without losing energy., sensing minuscule forces/ mass changes... tensile-stressed (1GPa) 295 nm silicon nitride with functional material on top, maintaining dissipation dilution boost mechanical factor >10 million... direct readout in sensing applications, also interfacing mechanical/ electric degrees of freedom for quantum information transduction... maintains single quantum coherent oscillation at room temperature"

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-10-chalcogenide-perovskite-generates-electricity-stressed.html "environmentally friendly (does not contain lead): polymer film infused with 0.3 mm thick chalcogenide perovskite... deforms causing positive/ negative ions within (dipole)... contains barium, zirconium, sulfur..., powerd LED's... use in machines, infrastructure, bio-medical, tires charging vehicle as it drives, streetlights powered by traffic rumble, skyscrapers generating electricity as buildings sway, devices worn by runners or bikers that light up their shoes or helmets"

https://engineering.dartmouth.edu/news/dartmouth-contributes-to-a-breakthrough-in-understanding-of-thin-film-materials "voltage applied to most piezoelectric films would be blocked when film is clamped to substrate, but in this case the energy barrier doesn't become too high... in most materials, stretching in 1 direction leads to contraction in another. but here leads to expansion in all directions... miniaturized electronic systems... future: find a piezoelectric material with this property that is lead-free"

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-08-technology-energy-device-incurred-generating.html "self-heals mechanical damage caused by continuous friction... recyclable/ decomposed with microorganisms... imidazolium ions for self-healing/ high electro-positive properties, and polycaprolactone-based polyurethane... 436.8 mW/m2 power density, 90% self-healing efficiency,.. recycling: 21% initial mass remains >300 days biodegradation... soft electronics, wearables... future: commercialization" Related: Researchers solve long-standing challenge for piezoelectric materials https://phys.org/news/2024-08-piezoelectric-materials.html Charge your phone just by moving your body https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1065602 Red-sea-star-inspired polyurethane enables rapid underwater self-healing https://phys.org/news/2025-05-red-sea-star-polyurethane-enables.html Skin-like electronic material created by researchers https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1088649 Will wearables get smarter...

https://phys.org/news/2024-06-breakthrough-nanoporous-material-giant-piezoelectric.html "super-strain barium calcium zirconium titanate, high piezoelectric charge constant d33 ≈7500 pm V-1, order magnitude greater... eco-friendly... simple synthesis process: soft-templating using sol-gel-based diblock copolymer pore-director... opens up new possibilities for developing and applying ferroelectric devices in energy harvesting. With high efficiency in energy harvesting, these innovative devices are expected to become rivals to traditional energy sources like coal and hydrocarbons in the future"

https://phys.org/news/2024-05-high-alternative-conventional-ferroelectrics.html# "piezoelectricity trades between mechanical stress and electric charge... at submicrometer scale substrate  interferes degrading performance, solved using antiferroelectric lead zirconate producing electromechanical response up to 5X greater (clamping now doesn't interfere with performance, but enhances it)...  smaller, more powerful, energy efficient electromechanical devices/ nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) that can do things we never thought possible before" Related: Innovative strategy enhances energy storage in antiferroelectric materials https://phys.org/news/2025-02-strategy-energy-storage-antiferroelectric-materials.html New strategy for lead-free antiferroelectric design: Sn and Ce Co-doping regulates NaNbO₃ phase structure https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1088612 Direct observation of the charge distribution at the ferroelectric interface was succeeded https://www.eurek...

https://phys.org/news/2024-02-unconventional-piezoelectricity-ferroelectric-hafnia.html "piezoelectricity in ferroelectric Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 (HZO) thin films dynamically changed by electric field cycling... different Hf0 (hafnia) films expand or contract, and ferroelectric polarization can switch against electrical field, in same experimental conditions... HZO capacitor cycling from + to - of piezoelectric d33 coefficient... also, occurrence of an intrinsic non-piezoelectric ferroelectric compound, revolutionizing ferroelectricity ... all while polarization remains robust... microelectronics and information technology" Related: Boulder researchers build new energy converter https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vckwEoEnWXY

https://techxplore.com/news/2024-02-tiny-power-vibrational-energy.html "integrated dual-side series/parallel piezoelectric resonator-based 20-to-2.2V DC-DC hybrid DSPPR converter... 310% loss reduction... enhanced performance especially at voltage conversion ratios <0.1... enhanced phase-control precision... additional capacitive-based converter stages, pre- and post- converter... minimizes demand on piezoelectric material so compact... marginal increase (<10%) in additional capacitors... high-power computing servers, automotive systems, USB chargers, battery-powered devices"

https://techxplore.com/news/2023-11-scientists-low-cost-multifunctional-microprinter-ultrafast.html "spiny disc connected to needle and power... ink cone-jetted onto platform forming micropatterns similar to charged droplet streams ejected from tips of raindrops in thunderstorm... speed enhanced 100X... 10 μm-thick lead zirconate titanate film on 4-in. Si wafer fabricated in 10 min... affordable precision printing with features measurable at ~20 μm...microphone piezoelectric components, clinical ultrasound probes, thin-film solar, dielectric ceramics, metal nanoparticles, insulating polymers and biological molecules" Related: A non-equivalent co-doped strategy to improve the electrical properties of piezoelectric ceramics https://phys.org/news/2024-04-equivalent-doped-strategy-electrical-properties.html

https://techxplore.com/news/2023-06-device-vibrations-electricity-self-powered-sensors.html "combining piezoelectric composites with carbon fiber-reinforced polymer... durabile and light... CFRP, potassium sodium niobate nanoparticles and epoxy resin... electrode and reinforcement substrate... high performance bent >100,000X.,, storing the generated electricity and powering LED lights. Additionally, it outperformed other KNN-based polymer composites in terms of energy output density... self-powered IoT sensors, aerospace and automotive industries, sports equipment, and medical equipment" Related: New Energy Tech Could Transform The Internet Of Things https://finance.yahoo.com/news/energy-tech-could-transform-internet-190000385.html A new milestone for flexible magnetic sensors https://techxplore.com/news/2023-07-milestone-flexible-magnetic-sensors.html Piezoelectric Wind Turbines: A Breakthrough in Renewable Energy for Tech Industry https://www.energyportal.eu/news/piezoel...

https://phys.org/news/2022-08-data-driven-discovery-nboi2-high-layered.html "NbOX2 has an intrinsic ferroelectric polarization as its crystal structure is not symmetrical in the x-direction). Interestingly, the piezoelectric coefficients are the largest for NbOI2, while the ferroelectric polarization is largest for NbOCl2... best piezoelectric performance among 2,940 materials... piezoelectric performance independent of thickness... thickness-independence of piezoelectricity in NbOX2 is useful for practical applications where the control of the material thickness may be particularly challenging"

https://www.fleet.org.au/blog/stress-can-be-good-for-you-enhancing-piezoelectric-properties-under-pressure/ "BiFeO3 (or BFO) boasts an impressive resume... including piezoelectricity, ferroelectricity, magnetism, and optical properties... it is one of the very few materials that is magnetoelectric at room temperature, making it viable for use in applications such as future low-energy electronics... It's also lead free, giving it a clear advantage against most high-performing piezoelectric materials... research team pushed BFO into a new phase... allows it to be easily influenced by electric fields"