Research Progress of Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Ocean Wave Energy Harvesting

Abstract

The ocean wave energy is considered one of the most promising forms of marine blue energy due to its vast reserves and high energy density. However, traditional electromagnetic power generation technology suffers from drawbacks such as high maintenance costs, heavy structures, and low conversion efficiency, which restricts its application range. The triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) uses Maxwell displacement current as its internal driving force, which can efficiently convert irregular, low‐frequency, and dispersed mechanical energy into electrical energy. The generator utilizes the coupling effect between contact electrification and electrostatic induction, showing the significant advantages of light weight, high cost effectiveness, and easy expansion. Compared with traditional mechanical energy harvesting techniques such as electromagnetic generators, triboelectric nanogenerators exhibit higher efficiency and output performance in the low‐frequency range. Thus, wave power generation technology based on triboelectric nanogenerators has emerged as a highly potential alternative in this field. Herein, recent progress to summarize the latest advancements in TENG‐based ocean wave energy capture is reviewed. More importantly, the actual progress of TENG with different structures in wave energy harvesting is discussed, providing an overview of the current research status in this field for relevant researchers.