Hierarchical Honeycomb-Structured Electret/Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Biomechanical and Morphing Wing Energy Harvesting

AbstractFlexible, compact, lightweight and sustainable power sources are indispensable for modern wearable and personal electronics and small-unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Hierarchical honeycomb has the unique merits of compact mesostructures, excellent energy absorption properties and considerable weight to strength ratios. Herein, a honeycomb-inspired triboelectric nanogenerator (h-TENG) is proposed for biomechanical and UAV morphing wing energy harvesting based on contact triboelectrification wavy surface of cellular honeycomb structure. The wavy surface comprises a multilayered thin film structure (combining polyethylene terephthalate, silver nanowires and fluorinated ethylene propylene) fabricated through high-temperature thermoplastic molding and wafer-level bonding process. With superior synchronization of large amounts of energy generation units with honeycomb cells, the manufactured h-TENG prototype produces the maximum instantaneous open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current and output power of 1207 V, 68.5 μA and 12.4 mW, respectively, corresponding to a remarkable peak power density of 0.275 mW cm−3 (or 2.48 mW g−1) under hand pressing excitations. Attributed to the excellent elastic property of self-rebounding honeycomb structure, the flexible and transparent h-TENG can be easily pressed, bent and integrated into shoes for real-time insole plantar pressure mapping. The lightweight and compact h-TENG is further installed into a morphing wing of small UAVs for efficiently converting the flapping energy of ailerons into electricity for the first time. This research demonstrates this new conceptualizing single h-TENG device's versatility and viability for broad-range real-world application scenarios.

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A Stretchable, Self-Healable Triboelectric Nanogenerator as Electronic Skin for Energy Harvesting and Tactile Sensing

Materials ◽

10.3390/ma14071689 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (7) ◽

pp. 1689

Author(s):

Xi Han ◽

Dongjie Jiang ◽

Xuecheng Qu ◽

Yuan Bai ◽

Yu Cao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Energy Harvesting ◽

Material Selection ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Red Light ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Triboelectric Nanogenerator ◽

Tactile Sensing ◽

Electronic Skin ◽

Self Powered

Electronic skin that is deformable, self-healable, and self-powered has high competitiveness for next-generation energy/sense/robotic applications. Herein, we fabricated a stretchable, self-healable triboelectric nanogenerator (SH-TENG) as electronic skin for energy harvesting and tactile sensing. The elongation of SH-TENG can achieve 800% (uniaxial strain) and the SH-TENG can self-heal within 2.5 min. The SH-TENG is based on the single-electrode mode, which is constructed from ion hydrogels with an area of 2 cm × 3 cm, the output of short-circuit transferred charge (Qsc), open-circuit voltage (Voc), and short-circuit current (Isc) reaches ~6 nC, ~22 V, and ~400 nA, and the corresponding output power density is ~2.9 μW × cm−2 when the matching resistance was ~140 MΩ. As a biomechanical energy harvesting device, the SH-TENG also can drive red light-emitting diodes (LEDs) bulbs. Meanwhile, SH-TENG has shown good sensitivity to low-frequency human touch and can be used as an artificial electronic skin for touch/pressure sensing. This work provides a suitable candidate for the material selection of the hydrogel-based self-powered electronic skin.

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A Highly Efficient and Durable Kirigami Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Rotational Energy Harvesting

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14041120 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

pp. 1120

Author(s):

Dae Sol Kong ◽

Jae Yeon Han ◽

Young Joon Ko ◽

Sang Hyeok Park ◽

Minbaek Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Energy Harvesting ◽

Sliding Mode ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Rotational Energy ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Triboelectric Nanogenerator ◽

Highly Efficient ◽

Triboelectric Nanogenerators

While sliding-mode triboelectric nanogenerators (S-TENGs) have been considered as one of the most promising devices for rotational energy harvesting, their inherently poor durability has been a serious bottleneck for applications. Herein, we report a three-dimensional kirigami TENG as a highly efficient and durable rotational energy harvesting device. The kirigami TENG consisted of cube-shaped paper, aluminum (Al) foil electrode and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) polymer film, and converted rotational motion into multiple folding-unfolding vibrations. The rotation-folding (R-F) kirigami TENG generated an open-circuit voltage of 31 V, a short-circuit current of 0.67 μA and an instantaneous power (power density) of 1.2 μW (0.13 μW/cm2) at 200 rpm, which was sufficient to turn on 25 light-emitting diodes and a thermo-hygrometer. The triboelectric outputs of the R-F kirigami TENG were only slightly decreased even after 288,000 continuous rotations, i.e., the output remained at 86% of its initial value. This work demonstrates that an R-F kirigami TENG could be a plausible candidate to efficiently harvest various forms of rotational energy with a long-term durability.

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Investigation of Position Sensing and Energy Harvesting of a Flexible Triboelectric Touch Pad

Nanomaterials ◽

10.3390/nano8080613 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 8 (8) ◽

pp. 613 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Tao Chen ◽

Qiongfeng Shi ◽

Kunpu Li ◽

Zhan Yang ◽

Huicong Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Energy Harvesting ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Electronic Devices ◽

Maximum Output Power ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Triboelectric Nanogenerator ◽

Maximum Output ◽

Current Output ◽

Position Sensing

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is a promising technology because it can harvest energy from the environment to enable self-sustainable mobile and wearable electronic devices. In this work, we present a flexible touch pad capable of detecting the contact location of an object and generating substantial energy simultaneously based on the coupling of triboelectric effects and electrostatic induction. The touch pad consists of Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) thin film, multiple Aluminum (Al) electrodes and Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) layers, which can be achieved through low cost, simplified and scalable fabrication process. Different from the conventional multi-pixel-based positioning sensor (i.e., large array of sensing elements and electrodes), the analogue method proposed here is used to implement the positioning function with only four electrodes. Position location can achieve a detecting resolution of as small as 1.3 mm (the size of locating layer is 7.5 cm × 7.5 cm). For the energy harvesting part, a multilayer structure is designed to provide higher current output. The open circuit voltage of the device is around 420 V and the short circuit current can reach up to 6.26 µA with current density of 0.25 µA/cm2. The maximum output power obtained is approximately 10 mW, which is 0.4 mW/cm2. The flexibility and significantly reduced number of electrodes enable the proposed touch pad to be readily integrated into portable electronic devices, such as intelligent robots, laptops, healthcare devices, and environmental surveys, etc.

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An Optimized Flutter-Driven Triboelectric Nanogenerator with a Low Cut-In Wind Speed

Micromachines ◽

10.3390/mi12040366 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 366

Author(s):

Yang Xia ◽

Yun Tian ◽

Lanbin Zhang ◽

Zhihao Ma ◽

Huliang Dai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Power Generation ◽

Wind Speed ◽

Energy Harvesting ◽

Wind Energy ◽

Output Power ◽

Open Circuit Voltage ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Triboelectric Nanogenerator ◽

Vibration Behavior ◽

Air Speed

We present an optimized flutter-driven triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) for wind energy harvesting. The vibration and power generation characteristics of this TENG are investigated in detail, and a low cut-in wind speed of 3.4 m/s is achieved. It is found that the air speed, the thickness and length of the membrane, and the distance between the electrode plates mainly determine the PTFE membrane’s vibration behavior and the performance of TENG. With the optimized value of the thickness and length of the membrane and the distance of the electrode plates, the peak open-circuit voltage and output power of TENG reach 297 V and 0.46 mW at a wind speed of 10 m/s. The energy generated by TENG can directly light up dozens of LEDs and keep a digital watch running continuously by charging a capacitor of 100 μF at a wind speed of 8 m/s.

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Fluttering Amplitude Amplification by Utilizing Flapping Moment in Flutter-Driven Triboelectric Nanogenerator

ASME 2021 15th International Conference on Energy Sustainability ◽

10.1115/es2021-62501 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yi Zhang ◽

Ka Chung Chan ◽

Sau Chung Fu ◽

Christopher Yu Hang Chao

Keyword(s):

Flow Velocity ◽

High Speed ◽

Aerodynamic Force ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Energy Output ◽

Small Scale ◽

Triboelectric Nanogenerator ◽

Peak Value

Abstract Flutter-driven triboelectric nanogenerator (FTENG) is one of the most promising methods to harvest small-scale wind energy. Wind causes self-fluttering motion of a flag in the FTENG to generate electricity by contact electrification. A lot of studies have been conducted to enhance the energy output by increasing the surface charge density of the flag, but only a few researches tried to increase the converting efficiency by enlarging the flapping motion. In this study, we show that by simply replacing the rigid flagpole in the FTENG with a flexible flagpole, the energy conversion efficiency is augmented and the energy output is enhanced. It is found that when the flag flutters, the flagpole also undergoes aerodynamic force. The lift force generated from the fluttering flag applies a periodic rotational moment on the flagpole, and causes the flagpole to vibrate. The vibration of the flagpole, in turn amplifies the flutter of the flag. Both the fluttering dynamics of the flags with rigid and flexible flagpoles have been recorded by a high-speed camera. When the flag was held by a flexible flagpole, the fluttering amplitude and the contact area between the flag and electrode plates were increased. The energy enhancement increased as the flow velocity increased and the enhancement can be 113 times when the wind velocity is 10 m/s. The thickness of the flagpole was investigated. An optimal output of open-circuit voltage reaching 1128 V (peak-to-peak value) or 312.40 V (RMS value), and short-circuit current reaching 127.67 μA (peak-to-peak value) or 31.99 μA (RMS value) at 12.21 m/s flow velocity was achieved. This research presents a simple design to enhance the output performance of an FTENG by amplifying the fluttering amplitude. Based on the performance obtained in this study, the improved FTENG has the potential to apply in a smart city for driving electronic devices as a power source for IoT applications.

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Novel Flexible Triboelectric Nanogenerator based on Metallized Porous PDMS and Parylene C

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13071625 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (7) ◽

pp. 1625 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Massimo Mariello ◽

Elisa Scarpa ◽

Luciana Algieri ◽

Francesco Guido ◽

Vincenzo Mariano Mastronardi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Energy Harvesting ◽

Power Density ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Triboelectric Nanogenerator ◽

Steam Curing ◽

Density Peak ◽

Peak Voltage ◽

Parylene C ◽

Pdms Surface ◽

Wide Range

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have recently become a powerful technology for energy harvesting and self-powered sensor networks. One of their main advantages is the possibility to employ a wide range of materials, especially for fabricating inexpensive and easy-to-use devices. This paper reports the fabrication and preliminary characterization of a novel flexible triboelectric nanogenerator which could be employed for driving future low power consumption wearable devices. The proposed TENG is a single-electrode device operating in contact-separation mode for applications in low-frequency energy harvesting from intermittent tapping loads involving the human body, such as finger or hand tapping. The novelty of the device lies in the choice of materials: it is based on a combination of a polysiloxane elastomer and a poly (para-xylylene). In particular, the TENG is composed, sequentially, of a poly (dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) substrate which was made porous and rough with a steam-curing step; then, a metallization layer with titanium and gold, deposited on the PDMS surface with an optimal substrate–electrode adhesion. Finally, the metallized structure was coated with a thin film of parylene C serving as friction layer. This material provides excellent conformability and high charge-retaining capability, playing a crucial role in the triboelectric process; it also makes the device suitable for employment in harsh, wet environments owing to its inertness and barrier properties. Preliminary performance tests were conducted by measuring the open-circuit voltage and power density under finger tapping (~2 N) at ~5 Hz. The device exhibited a peak-to-peak voltage of 1.6 V and power density peak of 2.24 mW/m2 at ~0.4 MΩ. The proposed TENG demonstrated ease of process, simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and flexibility.

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A highly shape-adaptive, stretchable design based on conductive liquid for energy harvesting and self-powered biomechanical monitoring

Science Advances ◽

10.1126/sciadv.1501624 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2 (6) ◽

pp. e1501624 ◽

Cited By ~ 161

Author(s):

Fang Yi ◽

Xiaofeng Wang ◽

Simiao Niu ◽

Shengming Li ◽

Yajiang Yin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Energy Harvesting ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Power Source ◽

Triboelectric Nanogenerator ◽

Stretchable Electronics ◽

Large Area ◽

Conductive Liquid ◽

Power Sources ◽

Energy Harvesters ◽

Self Powered

The rapid growth of deformable and stretchable electronics calls for a deformable and stretchable power source. We report a scalable approach for energy harvesters and self-powered sensors that can be highly deformable and stretchable. With conductive liquid contained in a polymer cover, a shape-adaptive triboelectric nanogenerator (saTENG) unit can effectively harvest energy in various working modes. The saTENG can maintain its performance under a strain of as large as 300%. The saTENG is so flexible that it can be conformed to any three-dimensional and curvilinear surface. We demonstrate applications of the saTENG as a wearable power source and self-powered sensor to monitor biomechanical motion. A bracelet-like saTENG worn on the wrist can light up more than 80 light-emitting diodes. Owing to the highly scalable manufacturing process, the saTENG can be easily applied for large-area energy harvesting. In addition, the saTENG can be extended to extract energy from mechanical motion using flowing water as the electrode. This approach provides a new prospect for deformable and stretchable power sources, as well as self-powered sensors, and has potential applications in various areas such as robotics, biomechanics, physiology, kinesiology, and entertainment.

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Cost-Effective Copper–Nickel-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Corrosion-Resistant and High-Output Self-Powered Wearable Electronic Systems

Nanomaterials ◽

10.3390/nano9050700 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (5) ◽

pp. 700 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kequan Xia ◽

Zhiwei Xu ◽

Zhiyuan Zhu ◽

Hongze Zhang ◽

Yong Nie

Keyword(s):

Nickel Alloy ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Body Movement ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Triboelectric Nanogenerator ◽

Wearable Electronics ◽

Corrosion Resistant ◽

Copper Nickel ◽

Self Powered ◽

Copper Nickel Alloy

Recent years, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have attracted increased attention from researchers worldwide. Owing to their conductivity and triboelectric characteristics, metal materials can be made as both triboelectric materials and conductive electrodes. However, the surface of typical metals (such as copper, aluminum, and iron) is likely to be corroded when the sweat generated by human-body movement drops on the surface of TENGs, as this corrosion is detrimental to the output performance of TENGs. In this work, we proposed a novel corrosion-resistant copper–nickel based TENG (CN-TENG). Copper–nickel alloy conductive tape and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tape played the role of the triboelectric materials, and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) was utilized as the supporting part. The conductive copper–nickel alloy tape also served as a conductive electrode. The open-circuit voltage (VOC) and short-circuit current (ISC) can arrive at 196.8 V and 6 μA, respectively. Furthermore, peak power density values of 45 μW/cm2 were realized for the CN-TENG. A series of experiments confirmed its corrosion-resistant property. The approximate value of VOC for the fabricated TENG integrated into the shoe reached 1500 V, which is capable of driving at least 172 high-power LEDs in series. The results of this research provide a workable method for supporting corrosion-resistant self-powered wearable electronics.

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Spiral Steel Wire Based Fiber-Shaped Stretchable and Tailorable Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Wearable Power Source and Active Gesture Sensor

Nano-Micro Letters ◽

10.1007/s40820-019-0271-3 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

Lingjie Xie ◽

Xiaoping Chen ◽

Zhen Wen ◽

Yanqin Yang ◽

Jihong Shi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Electronic Device ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Steel Wire ◽

Average Power ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Human Motion ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Triboelectric Nanogenerator ◽

Single Finger ◽

Wearable Electronic Device

Abstract Continuous deforming always leads to the performance degradation of a flexible triboelectric nanogenerator due to the Young’s modulus mismatch of different functional layers. In this work, we fabricated a fiber-shaped stretchable and tailorable triboelectric nanogenerator (FST–TENG) based on the geometric construction of a steel wire as electrode and ingenious selection of silicone rubber as triboelectric layer. Owing to the great robustness and continuous conductivity, the FST–TENGs demonstrate high stability, stretchability, and even tailorability. For a single device with ~ 6 cm in length and ~ 3 mm in diameter, the open-circuit voltage of ~ 59.7 V, transferred charge of ~ 23.7 nC, short-circuit current of ~ 2.67 μA and average power of ~ 2.13 μW can be obtained at 2.5 Hz. By knitting several FST–TENGs to be a fabric or a bracelet, it enables to harvest human motion energy and then to drive a wearable electronic device. Finally, it can also be woven on dorsum of glove to monitor the movements of gesture, which can recognize every single finger, different bending angle, and numbers of bent finger by analyzing voltage signals.

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Self-Powered Acceleration Sensor Based on Multilayer Suspension Structure and TPU-RTV Film for Vibration Monitoring

Nanomaterials ◽

10.3390/nano11102763 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (10) ◽

pp. 2763

Author(s):

Xiaotao Han ◽

Qiyuan Zhang ◽

Junbin Yu ◽

Jinsha Song ◽

Zhengyang Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Short Circuit ◽

Mechanical Vibration ◽

Short Circuit Current ◽

Open Circuit ◽

Vibration Monitoring ◽

Triboelectric Nanogenerator ◽

Acceleration Sensor ◽

Vibration Acceleration ◽

Self Powered ◽

Suspension Structure

In this paper, we designed a triboelectric acceleration sensor with excellent multiple parameters. To more easily detect weak vibrations, the sensor was founded on a multilayer suspension structure. To effectively improve the electrical properties of the sensor, a surface roughening and internal doping friction film, which was refined with a room temperature vulcanized silicone rubber (RTV) and some thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) powder in a certain proportion, was integrated into the structure. It was found that the optimization of the RTV film increases the open circuit voltage and short circuit current of the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) by 223% and 227%, respectively. When the external vibration acceleration is less than 4 m/s2, the sensitivity and linearity are 1.996 V/(m/s2) and 0.999, respectively. Additionally, when it is in the range between 4 m/s2 and 15 m/s2, those are 23.082 V/(m/s2) and 0.975, respectively. Furthermore, the sensor was placed in a simulated truck vibration environment, and its self-powered monitoring ability validated by experiments in real time. The results show that the designed sensor has strong practical value in the field of monitoring mechanical vibration acceleration.

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