Harvesting energy from our living environment is an effective approach for sustainable, maintenance-free, and green power source for wireless, portable, or implanted electronics. Our group has recently invented a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) to convert mechanical energy into electricity based on the coupling of triboelectrification and electrostatic induction. In the internal power-generation unit, a potential difference is created due to the charge transfer between two thin films that exhibit opposite triboelectric polarities; in the external load, electrons are driven to flow between two electrodes attached on the back sides of the films to balance the potential difference. The TENG has been investigated with three basic operation modes: vertical contact-separation mode, in-plane sliding mode, and single-electrode mode. Ever since the first report of the TENG in January 2012, the output power density of the TENG has been improved 5 orders of magnitude within 12 months. The area power density reaches 313 W/m2, volume density reaches 490 kW/m3, and a conversion efficiency of ~60% has been demonstrated. The TENG can be applied to harvest all kinds of mechanical energy that is available but usually wasted in our daily life, such as human motion, wind vibration, rotating tire, flowing water, and more. Alternatively, the TENG can also be used as a self-powered sensor for actively detecting the static and dynamic processes arising from mechanical agitation using the voltage and current output signals of the TENG, respectively, with potential applications for touch pad and smart skin technologies. The output performance of the TENG could be enhanced through numerous ways, including rational selection of materials, physically-modified surface morphologies, or chemically-functionalized nanostructures. The TENG is not only useful for self-powered portable electronics, but also provides us a new technological solution to the world's energy issue in the near future.Reference:1)      Fan, F. R.; Tian, Z. Q.; Wang, Z. L. Nano Energy 2012, 1, 328�334.2)      Fan, F. R.; Lin, L.; Zhu, G.; Wu, W. Z.; Zhang, R.; Wang, Z. L. Nano Lett. 2012, 12, 3109�3114.3)      Zhu, G.; Pan, C. F.; Guo, W. X.; Chen, C. Y.; Zhou, Y. S.; Yu, R. M.; Wang, Z. L. Nano Lett. 2012, 12, 4960�4965.4)      Wang, S. H.; Lin, L.; Wang, Z. L. Nano Lett. 2012, 12, 6339�6346.5)      Zhu, G.; Lin, Z. H.; Jing, Q. S.; Bai, P.; Pan, C. F.; Yang, Y.; Zhou, Y. S.; Wang, Z. L. Nano Lett. 2013, 13, 847�853.6)      Wang, S. H.; Lin, L.; Xie, Y. N.; Jing, Q. S.; Niu, S. M.; Wang, Z. L. Nano Lett. 2013, 13, 2226�2233.7)      Zhu, G.; Chen, J.; Liu, Y.; Bai, P.; Zhou, Y. S.; Jing, Q. S.; Pan, C. F.; Wang, Z. L. Nano Lett. 2013, 13, 2282�2289.8)      Lin, L.; Wang, S. H.; Xie, Y. N.; Jing, Q. S.; Niu, S. M.; Hu, Y. F.; Wang, Z. L. Nano Lett. 2013, 13, 2916�2923.9)      Lin, L.; Xie, Y. N.; Wang, S. H.; Wu, W. Z.; Niu, S. M.; Wen, X. N.; Wang, Z. L. ACS Nano 2013, 7, 8266�8274.

Triboelectric nanogenerator for self-powered systems and active sensor networks

247th National Meeting (2014)

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