scholarly journals A Stretchable, Self-Healable Triboelectric Nanogenerator as Electronic Skin for Energy Harvesting and Tactile Sensing

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 1689
Author(s):  
Xi Han ◽  
Dongjie Jiang ◽  
Xuecheng Qu ◽  
Yuan Bai ◽  
Yu Cao ◽  
...  

Electronic skin that is deformable, self-healable, and self-powered has high competitiveness for next-generation energy/sense/robotic applications. Herein, we fabricated a stretchable, self-healable triboelectric nanogenerator (SH-TENG) as electronic skin for energy harvesting and tactile sensing. The elongation of SH-TENG can achieve 800% (uniaxial strain) and the SH-TENG can self-heal within 2.5 min. The SH-TENG is based on the single-electrode mode, which is constructed from ion hydrogels with an area of 2 cm × 3 cm, the output of short-circuit transferred charge (Qsc), open-circuit voltage (Voc), and short-circuit current (Isc) reaches ~6 nC, ~22 V, and ~400 nA, and the corresponding output power density is ~2.9 μW × cm−2 when the matching resistance was ~140 MΩ. As a biomechanical energy harvesting device, the SH-TENG also can drive red light-emitting diodes (LEDs) bulbs. Meanwhile, SH-TENG has shown good sensitivity to low-frequency human touch and can be used as an artificial electronic skin for touch/pressure sensing. This work provides a suitable candidate for the material selection of the hydrogel-based self-powered electronic skin.

Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2763
Author(s):  
Xiaotao Han ◽  
Qiyuan Zhang ◽  
Junbin Yu ◽  
Jinsha Song ◽  
Zhengyang Li ◽  
...  

In this paper, we designed a triboelectric acceleration sensor with excellent multiple parameters. To more easily detect weak vibrations, the sensor was founded on a multilayer suspension structure. To effectively improve the electrical properties of the sensor, a surface roughening and internal doping friction film, which was refined with a room temperature vulcanized silicone rubber (RTV) and some thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPU) powder in a certain proportion, was integrated into the structure. It was found that the optimization of the RTV film increases the open circuit voltage and short circuit current of the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) by 223% and 227%, respectively. When the external vibration acceleration is less than 4 m/s2, the sensitivity and linearity are 1.996 V/(m/s2) and 0.999, respectively. Additionally, when it is in the range between 4 m/s2 and 15 m/s2, those are 23.082 V/(m/s2) and 0.975, respectively. Furthermore, the sensor was placed in a simulated truck vibration environment, and its self-powered monitoring ability validated by experiments in real time. The results show that the designed sensor has strong practical value in the field of monitoring mechanical vibration acceleration.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lu Cheng ◽  
Yi Xi ◽  
Chenguo Hu ◽  
Xule Yue ◽  
Guo Wang

AbstractAs we known, nanogenerator (NG) can be used in many fields, such as sensors, energy harvesting, biomedical application, and so on. Sometimes, the object that is a part of NG cannot be electrically connected to the load because it is a mobile object. To harvest energy from such a case and reduce the fabrication cost and achieve some new applications such as touch screen products, we need to find new method to fabricate NG. To attain the higher output current and output power, moreover, here we report a flexible and easy fabricated single electrode triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and silver (Ag) nanowires (NWs). Due to Ag NWs high specific surface area, the electrical conductivity of Ag NWs is better than the block of Ag, and PDMS is the transparent and flexible. The single electrode TENG not only can harvest energy from environment but also is a self-powered sensor for detecting acceleration from different angles. This TENG can attain an open-circuit voltage up to 330 V, a maximum short-circuit current of 15.5 μ A (2.6 μ A/cm


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 1120
Author(s):  
Dae Sol Kong ◽  
Jae Yeon Han ◽  
Young Joon Ko ◽  
Sang Hyeok Park ◽  
Minbaek Lee ◽  
...  

While sliding-mode triboelectric nanogenerators (S-TENGs) have been considered as one of the most promising devices for rotational energy harvesting, their inherently poor durability has been a serious bottleneck for applications. Herein, we report a three-dimensional kirigami TENG as a highly efficient and durable rotational energy harvesting device. The kirigami TENG consisted of cube-shaped paper, aluminum (Al) foil electrode and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) polymer film, and converted rotational motion into multiple folding-unfolding vibrations. The rotation-folding (R-F) kirigami TENG generated an open-circuit voltage of 31 V, a short-circuit current of 0.67 μA and an instantaneous power (power density) of 1.2 μW (0.13 μW/cm2) at 200 rpm, which was sufficient to turn on 25 light-emitting diodes and a thermo-hygrometer. The triboelectric outputs of the R-F kirigami TENG were only slightly decreased even after 288,000 continuous rotations, i.e., the output remained at 86% of its initial value. This work demonstrates that an R-F kirigami TENG could be a plausible candidate to efficiently harvest various forms of rotational energy with a long-term durability.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Chen ◽  
Qiongfeng Shi ◽  
Kunpu Li ◽  
Zhan Yang ◽  
Huicong Liu ◽  
...  

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is a promising technology because it can harvest energy from the environment to enable self-sustainable mobile and wearable electronic devices. In this work, we present a flexible touch pad capable of detecting the contact location of an object and generating substantial energy simultaneously based on the coupling of triboelectric effects and electrostatic induction. The touch pad consists of Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) thin film, multiple Aluminum (Al) electrodes and Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) layers, which can be achieved through low cost, simplified and scalable fabrication process. Different from the conventional multi-pixel-based positioning sensor (i.e., large array of sensing elements and electrodes), the analogue method proposed here is used to implement the positioning function with only four electrodes. Position location can achieve a detecting resolution of as small as 1.3 mm (the size of locating layer is 7.5 cm × 7.5 cm). For the energy harvesting part, a multilayer structure is designed to provide higher current output. The open circuit voltage of the device is around 420 V and the short circuit current can reach up to 6.26 µA with current density of 0.25 µA/cm2. The maximum output power obtained is approximately 10 mW, which is 0.4 mW/cm2. The flexibility and significantly reduced number of electrodes enable the proposed touch pad to be readily integrated into portable electronic devices, such as intelligent robots, laptops, healthcare devices, and environmental surveys, etc.


Micromachines ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nay Yee Win Zaw ◽  
Hyeonhee Roh ◽  
Inkyum Kim ◽  
Tae Sik Goh ◽  
Daewon Kim

Wind is a great sustainable energy source for harvesting due to its abundant characteristic. Typically, large space, loud noise, and heavy equipment are essential for a general wind power plant and it is solely operated by big-scale wind. However, wind energy can be efficiently harvested by utilizing the triboelectric nanogenerator due to its abundance, ubiquity, and environmentally friendliness. Furthermore, a few previously reported wind-driven triboelectric nanogenerators, which have the bulk fluttering layer by wind, still show difficulty in generating electricity under the conditions of weak wind because of the static friction arisen from the inherent structure. In this case, the output performance is deteriorated as well as the generator cannot operate completely. In this work, a wind-driven triboelectric nanogenerator (wind-TENG) based on the fluttering of the PTFE strips is proposed to solve the aforementioned problems. At the minimum operating wind pressure of 0.05 MPa, this wind-driven TENG delivers the open-circuit voltage of 3.5 V, short-circuit current of 300 nA, and the associated output power density of 0.64 mW/m2 at the external load resistance of 5 MΩ. Such conditions can be used to light up seven LEDs. Moreover, this wind-TENG has been utilized as a direction sensor which can sense the direction at which the wind is applied. This work thus provides the potential application of the wind-TENG as both self-driven electronics and a self-powered sensor system for detecting the direction under environmental wind.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuang Hui ◽  
Ming Xiao ◽  
Daozhi Shen ◽  
Jiayun Feng ◽  
Peng Peng ◽  
...  

Abstract With the increase in the use of electronic devices in many different environments, a need has arisen for an easily implemented method for the rapid, sensitive detection of liquids in the vicinity of electronic components. In this work, a high-performance power generator that combines carbon nanoparticles and TiO2 nanowires has been fabricated by sequential electrophoretic deposition (EPD). The open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current of a single generator are found to exceed 0.7 V and 100 μA when 6 μL of water was applied. The generator is also found to have a stable and reproducible response to other liquids. An output voltage of 0.3 V was obtained after 244, 876, 931, and 184 μs, on exposure of the generator to 6 μL of water, ethanol, acetone, and methanol, respectively. The fast response time and high sensitivity to liquids show that the device has great potential for the detection of small quantities of liquid. In addition, the simple easily implemented sequential EPD method ensures the high mechanical strength of the device. This compact, reliable device provides a new method for the sensitive, rapid detection of extraneous liquids before they can impact the performance of electronic circuits, particularly those on printed circuit board.


Author(s):  
Yi Zhang ◽  
Ka Chung Chan ◽  
Sau Chung Fu ◽  
Christopher Yu Hang Chao

Abstract Flutter-driven triboelectric nanogenerator (FTENG) is one of the most promising methods to harvest small-scale wind energy. Wind causes self-fluttering motion of a flag in the FTENG to generate electricity by contact electrification. A lot of studies have been conducted to enhance the energy output by increasing the surface charge density of the flag, but only a few researches tried to increase the converting efficiency by enlarging the flapping motion. In this study, we show that by simply replacing the rigid flagpole in the FTENG with a flexible flagpole, the energy conversion efficiency is augmented and the energy output is enhanced. It is found that when the flag flutters, the flagpole also undergoes aerodynamic force. The lift force generated from the fluttering flag applies a periodic rotational moment on the flagpole, and causes the flagpole to vibrate. The vibration of the flagpole, in turn amplifies the flutter of the flag. Both the fluttering dynamics of the flags with rigid and flexible flagpoles have been recorded by a high-speed camera. When the flag was held by a flexible flagpole, the fluttering amplitude and the contact area between the flag and electrode plates were increased. The energy enhancement increased as the flow velocity increased and the enhancement can be 113 times when the wind velocity is 10 m/s. The thickness of the flagpole was investigated. An optimal output of open-circuit voltage reaching 1128 V (peak-to-peak value) or 312.40 V (RMS value), and short-circuit current reaching 127.67 μA (peak-to-peak value) or 31.99 μA (RMS value) at 12.21 m/s flow velocity was achieved. This research presents a simple design to enhance the output performance of an FTENG by amplifying the fluttering amplitude. Based on the performance obtained in this study, the improved FTENG has the potential to apply in a smart city for driving electronic devices as a power source for IoT applications.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. e1700015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiong Pu ◽  
Mengmeng Liu ◽  
Xiangyu Chen ◽  
Jiangman Sun ◽  
Chunhua Du ◽  
...  

Nano Energy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 70 ◽  
pp. 104546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kangkang Zhou ◽  
Yi Zhao ◽  
Xiupeng Sun ◽  
Zuqing Yuan ◽  
Guoqiang Zheng ◽  
...  

Polymers ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 803 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Zhao ◽  
Jiazheng Sheng ◽  
Di Xu ◽  
Minzhong Gao ◽  
Qinglong Meng ◽  
...  

An ionic polymer–metal composite (IPMC) is a kind of soft material. The applications of IPMC in actuators, environmental sensing, and energy harvesting are currently increasing rapidly. In this study, an ordered Nafion nanofibre mat prepared by electrospinning was used to investigate the characteristics of the mechanoelectrical transduction of IPMC. The morphologies of the Nafion nanofibre mat were characterized. The proton conductivity, ion exchange capacities, and water uptake potential of the Nafion nanofibre mat were compared to traditional IPMC, respectively. A novel mechanism of Nafion nanofibre IPMC was designed and the open circuit voltage and short circuit current were measured. The maximum voltage value reached 100 mv. The output power was 3.63 nw and the power density was up to 42.4 μW/Kg under the load resistance. The Nafion nanofibre mat demonstrates excellent mechanoelectrcical transduction behavior compared to traditional IPMC and could be used for the development of self-powered devices in the future.


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