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As wearable microelectronics are becoming ubiquitous, there is a growing interest in replacing batteries with a means of harnessing power from the user's environment via embedded systems. Efforts have been made to prolong the harvester's operational lifetime, overcoming energy dissipation, lowering resonant frequency, attaining multi-resonant states, and widening the operating frequency bandwidth of the biomechanical energy harvesters. Such technological advances mean harvesting energy is a viable solution for sustainably powering wearable electronics for health and wellbeing applications, such as continuous medical health monitoring, remote sensing, and motion tracking.

A fibre Bragg grating (FBG) is a type of distributed Bragg reflector constructed in a short segment of optical fibre that reflects particular wavelengths of light and transmits all the others. As such, FBGs can be used as inline optical filters to block certain wavelengths, or as wavelength-specific reflectors. Applications include optical fibre communications, sensors and fibre lasers. This book addresses the critical challenge of developing Fibre Bragg Gratings (FBGs) for applications as sensors in harsh and space environment. Coverage ranges from the basic principles through design, fabrication, and testing to their industrial implementation. A thorough review includes the in-depth examination of the FBGs properties and the most important developments in devices and applications. A particular emphasis is given to the applications of fibre optic sensors in the space environment, which is characterized mainly by vacuum, high thermal gradients, mechanical vibrations and various types of cosmic radiation. The book concludes with a summary and overview of challenges faced by FBG technology. The book is supplemented by an extensive survey of published papers, books and conference reports. As an added benefit, the book is structured in such a way as to provide useful and in-depth training and skills development to graduate/undergraduate students, specialised engineers, and academic/industrial experts.

The need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependency on fossil fuels necessitates accelerated deployment of renewable energy, such as photovoltaics (PV). Regions with high insolation in the "Sun Belt" covering north Africa and the middle east, as well as in Australia, parts of Latin America, and elsewhere offer tremendous potential for PV, including for green hydrogen production. However, these regions are characterized by a hot climate and a dusty environment, both causing reduction of PV panel performance by 25% or more. The development of solar cells with enhanced resistance to thermal degradation and the reduction of panel soiling have therefore been subjects of intense study.

Self-healing materials are an emerging class of smart materials that are capable of repairing themselves from damage, either spontaneously or under a stimulus such as light, heat, or the application of a solvent. Intended for an audience of researchers in academia and industry, this book addresses a wide range of self-healing materials and processes, with emphasis on their performance in the space environment.