Magnetoelectric (ME) materials are a class of multiferroics[1], exhibiting coupling between ferroelectric and ferromagnetic order parameters. ME effect is the control of magnetism with electric field and control of electric polarisation through magnetic field. The ability, to switch electric polarisation and magnetisation, opens the door to various applications and multifunctional devices[2]. Bulk and thin film ME devices with different connectivity schemes (particulate composite 0-3, laminate composite 2-2, fibre/rod infused composite 2-3) have been fabricated and investigated in the earlier studies. ME composites comprise of piezoelectric and magnetostrictive phases, the plethora of available materials have revolutionised device design and fabrication, however the challenge lies in developing lead-free, biocompatible, flexible and power efficient devices for energy harvesting. ME devices find application as sensors, memory storage, rf/microwave and energy harvesting devices. Due to the ever-increasing demand in energy and the need for self-powered devices in the Internet of things (IoT), energy harvesting is of utmost relevance in the modern era. ME composites make it easy to harvest both magnetic and vibrational energy in the ambient simultaneously. Spurious magnetic noise (50/60 Hz) arising from power lines, electronic devices and so on is omnipresent in our daily life, this can be harvested to develop a self-powered device. This research aims at developing lead-free bilayer laminate composites with significant ME coefficient to harvest stray magnetic field. Experimental results are compared with those of the analytical formulation and finite element model simulation[3].

References
[1] Eerenstein W, Mathur N D and Scott J F 2006 Nature 442 759–65
[2] Kimura T, Goto T, Shintani H, Ishizaka K, Arima T and Tokura Y 2003 Nature 426 55
[3] Xavier D, Dinesh Kumar S and Subramanian V 2022 J. Phys. D. Appl. Phys. 55 305502