A coplanar‐electrode direct‐current triboelectric nanogenerator with facile fabrication and stable output

Abstract

Recently, the direct‐current (DC) TENG based on triboelectrification and discharge has been reported, which can not only generate a DC power, but also provide a higher charge density compared to traditional TENG. Here, we report a novel coplanar‐electrode DC TENG (CDC‐TENG) design which can be easily fabricated by two electrodes, and then a theoretical model is built to illustrate its principle and optimize its output performance. Both theoretical and experimental studies show that the designed device can enhance the energy output, and then the output power is optimized. Furthermore, we develop a three‐electrode CDC‐TENG to output DC during the reciprocating motion. We apply this CDC‐TENG design for rotational energy harvesting and produce a stable constant DC output. This represents an important progress to effectively store the energy harvested by the CDC‐TENG with the aim to drive portable/wearable/implantable electronics with the stable output.

A Robust Constant–Voltage DC Triboelectric Nanogenerator Using the Ternary Dielectric Triboelectrification Effect

“…Notably, the charge output density of the 1‐unit sliding C‐DC‐TENG is 0.0417 mC m −2 , which is higher than that of the coplanar electrode DC TENG with a similar unit structure (0.02 mC m −2 ), further demonstrating the enhancement effect of ternary dielectric triboelectrification effect on the charge output. [ 43 ] Figure 2f shows that the peak current of the sliding C‐DC‐TENG increases linearly with increasing n . However, the voltage output of the sliding C‐DC‐TENG decreases with the increase of n (Figure 2g).…”

Triboelectric nanogenerator: from alternating current to direct current

“…Generally, the output of TENG is AC pulse feature, which must be converted to a DC output or even a constant current output across the power management circuit for powering electronics ( Harmon et al., 2020 ; Niu et al., 2015 ; Qin et al., 2018 ; Xi et al., 2017 ; Xu et al., 2019b ; Zhang et al., 2020b ). Recently, some studies about TENGs with DC output are emerging, which are named as DC-TENGs ( Liu et al., 2019a , 2020a ; Luo et al., 2018 ; Xu et al., 2020a ; Yang et al., 2014 ; Zhang et al., 2014 ; Zhu et al., 2020 ). Compared with AC-TENG, DC-TENG has unique merits of direct current characteristics to drive electronics without any rectifier or even energy storage unit, and thus shows great potential for practical applications.…”

Understanding the Time-Lag Behavior of the Breakdown-Discharge Voltage

“…The triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has been proved with great potential for applications as a sustainable energy source , for artificial intelligence, , wearable electronics, , and intelligent sports. , With the continuous improvement of the output performance of TENG, its evitable breakdown discharge is considered the key limiting factor. − On the other hand, based on the breakdown-discharge effect, direct-current (DC) TENGs are proposed, which usually have relatively high current and thus further expand the application scope of TENG. − Breakdown discharge, as triggered by TENGs, can also be utilized in multiple applications including self-powered wireless sensing, micro-plasma generation, and metal micropatterning. − The output performances including high voltage, low current, and limited charge of TENG play an important role in precisely controlling the discharge to enable the functions and enhance the performance in these applications. Therefore, it is important to understand the mechanism and enhance the controllability of the breakdown discharge inside TENG through studies on the discharge behaviors.…”