Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) is a private university located in&nbsp;Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 1984, as Vellore Engineering College, the institution offers 20 undergraduate, 34 postgraduate, four integrated and four research programs. It has campuses in Vellore, Amravati, Bhopal and Chennai.

VIT is one of the top ranked private universities in India according to NIRF, THE and QS Rankings.&nbsp;Govt. of India has recognized&nbsp;VIT, Vellore as an&nbsp;Institution of Eminence. This has allowed VIT to take independent quality initiatives and move up in world ranking.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

VIT University

Department of Sensor and Biomedical Technology

Herein, a unique energy harvester made of triboelectric and piezoelectric effects made of a dual perovskite solid system by substituting a trace amount of perovskite BaTiO3 into the parent material K0.5Na0.5NbO3 material. The combined system (1 − x) K0.5Na0.5NbO3- x BaTiO3 at x = 0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06 and 0.08 is lead-free and eco-friendly in nature. The doping concentration KNN- 0.02 BTO shows high remnant polarization and electrical response. The active layer of the hybrid device is made of mixing KNN- 0.02 BTO into the PDMS matrix. The electrical response of the composite film is studied systematically with the addition of various weight percentages of nanoparticles into the PDMS matrix, where 10 wt% shows the high electrical output. The electrical responses with respect to surface roughness have been studied, and the roughness has been created using cost-effective soft lithographic techniques. The individual components, such as TENG and PENG, in comparison with the hybrid device, had been systematically studied, and the hybrid performance is high compared to individual components. The PCF-NG device generates a maximum electrical output of ≈610 V/13.7 μA with a power density of 0.55 W/m2 at load resistance of 100 MΩ. Further, the device demonstrates capability in powering low power electronic devices such as capacitor charging, LED lit up, and powering wristwatches. This work would provide an opportunity for developing a stable and highly reliable built-in power source for various applications and would lead a path towards battery-free smart electronics. © 2020

World University root node

School of Electronics Engineering

Vellore Campus

Applied Surface Science

Substantial improvement on electrical energy harvesting by chemically modified/sandpaper-based surface modification in micro-scale for hybrid nanogenerators

Incinerated precious stones such as diamond (InDia) are used in the Indian system of medicines to treat various diseases. More recently, they are used for treating tuberculosis and cancer related conditions. For the first time, we have performed the physico-chemical analysis and cell interaction studies for InDia. The hydrodynamic diameter of particles was found to be 500 nm. The XRD pattern shows the crystalline nature of the material, with strong peaks at 2$\theta$ values of 43.77, 75.23 and 91.45, respectively. The hyperspectral-dark-field image shows the aggregation of the InDia particles inside the BV2 cells (microglial cells) and a change in the spectral profile with the particle's position within the cell. Our preliminary results suggest that, InDia particles are readily taken up by the BV2 cells and affect the cell's motility, without affecting their viability.

Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Nanotechnology

Study of incinerated nanodiamonds and their effect on microglial cells

This paper describes a simple and cost-effective technique to fabricate a multifunctional temperature sensor for Wearable Electronics Applications. The Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) sputter-coated Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) film is utilized in this work behaves like a thermo-resistive material to sense the temperature. The screen-printing technique is utilized to prepare silver electrode on ITO film. The fabricated sensor exhibits good linearity, dynamic response, and repeatability throughout the temperature range. These characteristics demonstrate the suitability of the ITO film temperature sensor to monitor the human body temperature in wearable electronic devices. © 2020 IEEE.

Department of Instrumentation

School of Electrical Engineering

Proceedings of 2020 3rd International Conference on Advances in Electronics, Computers and Communications, ICAECC 2020

Indium Tin Oxide Based Flexible Temperature Sensor for Human Body Temperature Monitoring

To ensure better performance of modern electronic systems with electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) compliances, the reduction of electromagnetic interference (EMI) between modules or components of an integrated circuit (IC) is necessary. This can be achieved by developing a near field (NF) coupling model of radiating source and victim using analytical, experimental, or numerical simulation techniques. The accurate modeling of a radiation source can be performed using an array of elementary dipole moments obtained using near-field scanning measurement. This paper discusses the various techniques used in the equivalent dipole moment model to reduce the complexity and simulation time and at the same time increase the accuracy and reliability. © 2020. All Rights Reserved.

Progress In Electromagnetics Research B

Modeling of Radiation Source Using an Equivalent Dipole Moment Model

Background: Carpal tunnel and median nerve dynamically change with wrist motion. The purpose of this study was to investigate the morphological changes and positional migration of the carpal arch and median nerve, as well as nerve-arch positional relationship associated with wrist deviation in healthy volunteers. Methods: Twenty asymptomatic male volunteers performed wrist motion from neutral to deviated positions combining flexion-extension and radioulnar deviation. Ultrasound images of the carpal arch and median nerve at the distal carpal tunnel were collected during wrist motion. Morphological and positional parameters of the carpal arch and median nerve were derived from the ultrasound images. Findings: Carpal arch height, area, and palmar bowing of the transverse carpal ligament (TCL) increased with flexion related wrist motion and decreased with extension related motion (P < 0.05). Arch width increased with radial flexion and decreased with extension and ulnar extension (P < 0.05). Median nerve circularity increased with flexion and radial flexion but decreased with extension, ulnar extension, and ulnar deviation (P < 0.05). Nerve centroid displaced ulnarly with radial deviation, radial flexion, and radial extension and displaced radially with ulnar deviation, ulnar flexion, and ulnar extension (P < 0.05). Nerve centroid displaced in the dorsal direction with flexion and radial flexion, but in the palmar direction with extension (P < 0.05). Nerve-TCL distance increased with flexion related motion and decreased with extension relation motion (P < 0.05). Interpretation: The current study advances our understanding the effect of wrist motion on the carpal tunnel and its contents, which has implications for pathomorphological and pathokinematic changes associated with wrist disorders. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd

Clinical Biomechanics

Morphological and positional changes of the carpal arch and median nerve associated with wrist deviations

This work presents a metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) structure based on nickel oxide (NiO) showing negative differential resistance (NDR) properties. The Ni / NiO / HfO 2/ Ni layers structure was obtained by multiple sputtering steps and was then characterized by electrical measurements and other relevant methods. The electrical characteristics of the MIS structure were studied as a function of the oxide layer thickness. The observed NDR behavior could be attributed to a combination of the band-bending and a tunneling current contribution. © 2019, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society.

Journal of Electronic Materials

Negative Differential Resistance (NDR) Behavior of Nickel Oxide (NiO) Based Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor Structures

Accurate measurement and monitoring of respiration is vital in patients affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus – 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Patients with severe chronic diseases and pneumonia need continuous respiration monitoring and oxygenation support. Existing respiratory sensing techniques require direct contact with the human body along with expensive and heavy Holter monitors for continuous real-time monitoring. In this work, we propose a low-cost, non-invasive and reliable paper-based wearable screen printed sensor for human respiration monitoring as an effective alternative of existing sensing systems. The proposed sensor was fabricated using traditional screen printing of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite based interdigitated electrodes on paper substrate. The paper substrate was used as humidity sensing material of the sensor. The hygroscopic nature of paper during inhalation and exhalation causes a change in dielectric constant, which in turn changes the capacitance of the sensor. The composite interdigitated electrode configuration exhibited better response times with a rise time of 1.178s being recorded during exhalation and fall time of 0.88s during inhalation periods. The respiration rate of sensor was successfully examined under various breathing conditions such as normal breathing, deep breathing, workout, oral breathing, nasal breathing, fast breathing and slow breathing by employing it in a wearable mask, a mandatory wearable product during the current COVID-19 pandemic situation.Thus, the above proposed sensor may hold tremendous potential in wearable/flexible healthcare technology with good sensitivity, stability, biodegradability and flexibility at this time of need. IEEE

Fulltext

IEEE Sensors Journal

Flexible, Highly Sensitive Paper-Based Screen Printed MWCNT/PDMS Composite Breath Sensor for Human Respiration Monitoring

European Heart Journal

Modified New Zealand rabbit model produces severe aortic valve calcification and stenosis via extracellular membranous particles

Hybridizing the triboelectric and electromagnetic generator shows excellent potential in harvesting the water wave energy in a wide frequency range from low to high upon water wave motions. The triboelectric component works on low-frequency accelerations, and at the high-frequency accelerations, the electromagnetic components work efficiently. The hybrid generator is composed of a triboelectric and electromagnetic generator, which generates electrical output independently upon the same mechanical motions. The device is composed of a tubular structure with the inner part having a magnet and Kapton as triboelectric layers, and at the outer part, coils were wounded on either side, activating the electromagnetic part. The same magnet movement activates the triboelectric component when it moves over the Kapton, and during its motion inside the coil, activates the electromagnetic part. The tube-shaped hybrid generator produces an electrical output under the triboelectric component of 20 V and 100 nA with an output power of 85 nW. The single electromagnetic generator unit delivers a determined output of 3 V and 11 mA with an output power of 4 mW. The hybrid configuration generates a higher output of 7 V and 20 mA compared to the individual components. The device is then used as an oil spill detector to detect oil spill at sea with the change in conductivity of the seawater with the generated electrical output from the device. This work renders the innovative approach of scavenging blue energy as well as showing an excellent prospect for enabling the self-powered oil spill detection and marine rescue systems. © 2020 American Chemical Society

ACS Applied Electronic Materials

Encapsulated triboelectric−electromagnetic hybrid generator for a sustainable blue energy harvesting and self-powered oil spill detection

Water is abundantly present on Earth. Water waves have the unique feature of being random and irregular. The impact of water waves can be utilized to derive power by employing a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). Fishing is one of the main occupations in our society, and fishermen risk their lives every day for their occupation. During fishing, they face many obstacles such as heavy wind, fog, and tides, and these scenarios force them to lose their fishing nets in the sea. The loss of fishing nets not only leads to financial damage to the poor fishermen but also adds plastic pollution to the water bodies. A low cost, user-friendly approach to finding their fishing nets is highly desirable. Here, a self-powered smart fishing net-tracking buoy is developed for identifying fishing nets via integration of a Smart Buoy-Triboelectric Nanogenerator (SB-TENG), a power management unit, Arduino, and a Bluetooth controller using a smartphone. By scavenging blue energy, the SB-TENG device generates an open-circuit voltage of 900 V, and a short-circuit current of 11 μA and integration of multiple units of SB-TENG further enhances the performance. The SB-TENG was studied and demonstrated as a feasible power source that can commute instantaneous remote switching operation of LEDs. Moreover, by combining SB-TENG with Arduino and the Bluetooth controller, it acts as a self-powered wireless control system. This work demonstrates an effective method for scavenging blue energy and its potential application as a user-friendly, cost-effective, and self-powered smart fishing net tracking buoy. Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society.