A nonlinear triboelectric nanogenerator with a broadened bandwidth for effective harvesting of vibration energy

Abstract

A narrow resonance bandwidth of an energy harvesters limits its response to the wide frequency spectrum in ambient environments. This work proposes an addition of a nonlinear restoring force applied to a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) to tune and broaden the resonance bandwidth. This restoring force is applied by permanent magnets at both sides of the slider and two external magnets. The noncontact strategy is adopted between the slider and the grating electrodes to avoid the wear of electrodes and energy loss caused by friction. The results show that compared with the linear system, the nonlinear noncontact TENG (NN-TENG) can increase the peak current from 6.3 μA to 7.89 μA, with an increment of about 25%, increase the peak power from 650 μW to 977 μW, increasing by about 50%, and increase the bandwidth from 0.5 Hz to 7.75 Hz, increasing by about1400%. This work may enable a new strategy to boost the bandwidth and output power of TENG through nonlinear oscillators.

The potential application of the triboelectric nanogenerator in the new type futuristic power grid intelligent sensing

“…106 (G) A nonlinear friction nanogenerator with wide bandwidth. 107 author can obtain ideal output within a wide range of vibration frequency and magnet spacing, which has good adaptability and reliability. From Figure 10D-ii, we can see that although magnetoresistance is unavoidable in most non-ferrous media, the TENG designed by the authors shows only slight variations in output performance under magnetic interference from four typical materials, and it is still easy to light LED bulbs, clearly demonstrating the excellent effect of wireless power transmission.…”

“…In 2022, Xu et al proposed a wide-band triboelectric nanogenerator to collect mechanical energy in the environment, as shown in Figure 10G. 107 By adding permanent magnet components to both ends of the slider and the frame of the TENG, a nonlinear restoring force is introduced to expand the TENG resonance bandwidth, thereby increasing the bandwidth from 0.5 to 7.75 Hz. It provides a new strategy to improve the bandwidth and output performance of TENG by introducing nonlinear oscillation.…”

“…(F) A sliding TENG operates under bistable conditions 106 . (G) A nonlinear friction nanogenerator with wide bandwidth 107 …”

Dynamics of triboelectric nanogenerators: A review

“…It should be noted that the restoring force generated by the magnetic dipole is complicated, so it can only be approximated by simulations, as shown in Figure 4B,II. Moreover, in Figure 4C, to solve the issue of narrow bandwidth, a nonlinear noncontact TENG (NN‐TENG) that can be utilized to obtain the wide bandwidth, as well as to boost the output power, was proposed 86 . Figure 4C,I shows the schematic diagram of an NN‐TENG.…”

“…(C) Nonlinear noncontact TENG with a magnetic dipole. Reproduced with permission 86 . Copyright 2022 ©Guoqiang Xu.…”