A Rotating Triboelectric Nanogenerator Driven by Bidirectional Swing for Water Wave Energy Harvesting

Abstract

Due to the simple installation and convenient maintenance, the floating water wave energy harvesting devices have significant economic advantages. Mass power density is the most important index to evaluate the advancement of floating wave energy harvesting devices. Herein, a self‐adaptive rotating triboelectric nanogenerator (SR‐TENG) with a compound pendulum and a functional gear‐set is provided for wave energy harvesting. First, a compound pendulum structure with a low center of gravity and high moment of inertia is obtained by the geometric design and mechanical study. Besides, compared with the previous triboelectric nanogenerator with one‐way clutch, SR‐TENG can harvest twice the kinetic energy utilization through the functional gear‐set. Importantly, depending on the structure design, the SR‐TENG obtains the average mass power density of 45.18 mW kg−1 under low frequency driving conditions, which is about 10 times the reference electromagnetic generator with a similar structure and size. This result shows that the SR‐TENG has a significant advantage in small water wave energy harvesting. These findings provide an important example of the floating water wave energy harvesting devices.

Fluid-based triboelectric nanogenerators: unveiling the prolific landscape of renewable energy harvesting and beyond

“…When there are waves, the track tilts, the small ball rolls along one side of the track, collides with the TENG, and converts wave energy into electricity. In addition to the oscillating structure with the waves, Zhang et al 71 introduced a self-adjusting rotational TENG featuring a compound pendulum and a specialized gear mechanism designed for harnessing wave energy. In contrast to previous structures employing one-way swinging, this system, utilizing the engineered gear set, captures kinetic energy from the pendulum's two-way swinging, thereby improving the effectiveness of wave energy harvesting.…”

Wind-Wave Synergistic Triboelectric Nanogenerator: Performance Evaluation Test and Potential Applications in Offshore Areas

“…In recent years, multiple types of TENG with diverse structures and operating modes have become available for capturing wave energy. Common structures generally include rolling ball or column structures [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ] based on free-standing mode, stacked layer structures [ 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ] based on contact-separation mode, cylindrical pendulum structures [ 30 , 31 , 32 ], and rotating disk or cylindrical structures [ 33 , 34 , 35 ] based on free-standing mode. Rui et al presented a high-performance cylindrical pendulum-shaped triboelectric nanogenerator (CP-TENG); the arched FEP film’s design increases the contact area, leading to the excellent performance of the CP-TENG under resonance conditions [ 36 ].…”

A single-electrode mode triboelectric nanogenerator based on natural leaves for harvesting energy

“…1 The triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) based on the principles of frictional electrication and electrostatic induction can effectively convert low-frequency and chaotic mechanical energy in the environment into electrical energy, becoming a simple and attractive method of energy generation without external power generation equipment. 2 Since Wang Zhonglin began this creative research in 2012, 3,4 TENG has provided extensive applications in elds such as self-powered sensing, [5][6][7][8] clean energy harvesting, [9][10][11][12] intelligent wearable fabrics, [13][14][15] and air purication. [16][17][18] Using TENG as a power source to power electronic devices can effectively solve the problems of high cost and portability of traditional power generation methods.…”