Electron Transfer in Contact Electrification under Different Atmospheres Packaged inside TENG

Abstract

Contact electrification (CE), a common physical phenomenon, is worth discussing. However, there are few reports on the influence of atmosphere on CE, or on the performance of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG), based on CE by encapsulating gas inside. Here, we propose physical processes of electron transfer to interpret the impact of the gaseous atmosphere on CE. An atmosphere-filled triboelectric nanogenerator (AF-TENG) encapsulated five different gas-components of air based on the vertical contact separation mode was prepared. The sensitivity (1.02 V·N−1) and the power density (9.63 μW·m−2) of the oxygen-atmosphere-filled AF-TENG were 229.03% and 157.81% higher than these (0.31 V·N−1 and 3.84 μW·m−2) of the nitrogen-atmosphere-filled AF-TENG. As the oxygen atom possesses more atomic energy levels than other atoms, this could act as a “bridge” for more electrons to directly transfer between the two materials. The device package under different atmospheres could not only strengthen understanding of CE and improve the performance of TENG, but also be potentially applicable to prevent and control unnecessary damage caused by static electricity.

Self‐Powered Underwater Force Sensor Based on a T‐Shaped Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Simultaneous Detection of Normal and Tangential Forces

“…This is because besides the direct transfer of electrons between the two materials based on the overlapped electron-model, [20] electrons can also be transferred through the energy level of the gas acting as a "bridge." [21] Since the energy levels of the O atom are more abundant than those of the N and Ar atoms, electron transfer is highest in an O 2 atmosphere. Consequently, we decided to employ a T-shaped structure with a 5 mm elongation for conducting our next experiments.…”