A droplet-based electricity generator with high instantaneous power density

Xu, Wanghuai; Zheng, Haomian; Liu, Yuan; Zhou, Xiaofeng; Zhang, Chao; Song, Yuxin; Deng, Xu; Leung, Mkh; Yang, Zhengbao; Xu, Ronald X.; Wang, Zhong Lin; Zeng, Xiao Cheng; Wang, Zuankai

doi:10.1038/s41586-020-1985-6

Cited by 1,055 publications

(920 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…In principle, the electrification trends could reverse, e.g., from negative to positive, for a hydrophobic surface with positive charge. These findings advance the scientific understanding of electrification and rational design of technologies that involve electrowetting 1 , micro/nano fluidics and pipetting 6 , 7 , 9 , 95 , triboelectric power generation 10 , 12 , desalination 96 , 97 , and materials and surface engineering 91 , 98 , 99 , among others.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…Electrification underlies various curious phenomena, such as the electrostatic manipulation of droplets placed on hydrophobic surfaces 1 – 3 and Kelvin generators 4 – 6 . The electrification of water against hydrophobic surfaces (hereafter referred to as water-hydrophobe interfaces) plays an important role in various applied and natural contexts, such as pipetting 7 – 9 , triboelectric power generation 10 – 12 , hydrogen generation 13 , 14 , mitigating dust deposition on solar panels 15 , preventing fire hazards in granular flows 16 , and precipitation and thundercloud charging 17 , 18 . However, the causes and mechanisms underlying this electrification process are still intensely debated 11 , 14 , 19 – 37 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Electrification at water–hydrophobe interfaces

et al. 2020

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The mechanisms leading to the electrification of water when it comes in contact with hydrophobic surfaces remains a research frontier in chemical science. A clear understanding of these mechanisms could, for instance, aid the rational design of triboelectric generators and micro- and nano-fluidic devices. Here, we investigate the origins of the excess positive charges incurred on water droplets that are dispensed from capillaries made of polypropylene, perfluorodecyltrichlorosilane-coated glass, and polytetrafluoroethylene. Results demonstrate that the magnitude and sign of electrical charges vary depending on: the hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity of the capillary; the presence/absence of a water reservoir inside the capillary; the chemical and physical properties of aqueous solutions such as pH, ionic strength, dielectric constant and dissolved CO2 content; and environmental conditions such as relative humidity. Based on these results, we deduce that common hydrophobic materials possess surface-bound negative charge. Thus, when these surfaces are submerged in water, hydrated cations form an electrical double layer. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the primary role of hydrophobicity is to facilitate water-substrate separation without leaving a significant amount of liquid behind. These results advance the fundamental understanding of water-hydrophobe interfaces and should translate into superior materials and technologies for energy transduction, electrowetting, and separation processes, among others.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrification at water–hydrophobe interfaces

et al. 2020

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“…A single raindrop falling 15 cm above can produce a voltage of 140 V, and its energy conversion efficiency is roughly 2.2%. [ 33 ] It is worth noting that the output power can be further increased by optimizing the structure of the D‐TENG. Furthermore, this D‐TENG can be made small enough and more TENG units can be rectified in parallel to achieve increased power density.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Superhydrophobic Cellulose Paper‐Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Water Drop Energy Harvesting

Nie

Guo

et al. 2020

Adv Materials Technologies

Self Cite

128

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The high‐efficiency conversion of water drop mechanical energy into electrical energy has always been an urgent issue in the development and utilization of raindrop energy. In this work, a novel drum‐like triboelectric nanogenerator (D‐TENG) with robust self‐cleaning superhydrophobic features is developed to harvest water drop energy. An elastic superhydrophobic cellulose paper is created by spray‐coating nanofumed silica dispersed in a thermoplastic elastomer solution, followed by treatment with triethoxy‐1H,1H,2H,2H‐tridecafluoro‐n‐octylsilane. When raindrops hit the D‐TENG surface, the superhydrophobic cellulose paper will vibrate and periodic contact and separation with polytetrafluoroethylene will occur to generate electricity. The results demonstrate that when a 6 mm water drop falls from a height of 2.5 m and hits the D‐TENG, the generated voltage output can reach a peak of 21.6 V and charge transfer of 10 nC. The output power of the D‐TENG can reach 16 µW per droplet, which is more than 13.3 times that generated from the previous TENGs based on the electrostatic induction of water droplets. These results indicate that the superhydrophobic cellulose paper‐based D‐TENG is potentially a strong candidate for harvesting energy from raindrops, thereby making it a promising sustainable energy source for next‐generation electronics.

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“…[25,27,45,46] The triboelectrification phenomena can occur in almost all types of materials, e.g., polymers, ceramics, and metals, and at different interfaces, e.g., solid-solid, solidliquid, and liquid-liquid. [47][48][49][50][51] The structure of TENG consists of conducting electrodes, [34,[52][53][54] (e.g., metals, conductive gel etc.) and two triboelectric layers that have different electronegativities.…”

Section: Basics Of Triboelectric Nanogeneratorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to efficiently collect the wide range of various environmental mechanical energies, such as walking, tapping, sliding etc., four modes of TENGs have been proposed and demonstrated, including lateral sliding mode, [56][57][58][59] vertical contact-separation mode, [45,52,60,61] freestanding mode, [62][63][64] and single-electrode mode. [24,48,50,65,66] Compared with traditional mechanical energy harvesting devices based on mechanisms such as piezoelectric [19,67,68] and electromagnetic effects, [69][70][71] TENG has its advantages regarding the versatile material selection, lightweight, flexibility, low cost, high conversion efficiency, etc. [25,33,34] The electrical outputs can be used to power small electronics (such as an electronic watch, LEDs, calculator, small sensors) [72][73][74][75][76][77] or as the sensing signal in self-powered sensor systems.…”

Section: Basics Of Triboelectric Nanogeneratorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bio‐Derived Natural Materials Based Triboelectric Devices for Self‐Powered Ubiquitous Wearable and Implantable Intelligent Devices

Yang

Fan

2020

Advanced Sustainable Systems

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The capability of devices in future ubiquitous networked wearable and implantable electronics to efficiently scavenge and store operational power from their working environment through sustainable pathways would enable viable self‐powering schemes in societally‐pervasive applications such as advanced healthcare and robotics. Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) can efficiently harvest the ubiquitous mechanical energy for powering electronics and sensors. However, the majority of demonstrated TENG prototypes have been built with materials that are not biodegradable or biocompatible, which significantly hinders the application of TENGs for wearable and implantable technologies. In this review, the recent progress of the wearable and implantable triboelectric devices built with bio‐derived natural materials is summarized. The properties of these natural biopolymers are discussed in the context of self‐powered triboelectric applications. The common manufacturing methods for processing these materials into triboelectric devices are also discussed. In addition, the applications of the bio‐derived natural materials based TENGs for in vitro and in vivo applications are discussed. Finally, the outstanding challenges and potential opportunities for the development of bio‐derived natural materials based triboelectric devices targeting wearable and implantable human‐integrated applications are analyzed.

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A droplet-based electricity generator with high instantaneous power density

Cited by 1,055 publications

References 33 publications

Electrification at water–hydrophobe interfaces

Electrification at water–hydrophobe interfaces

Superhydrophobic Cellulose Paper‐Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Water Drop Energy Harvesting

Bio‐Derived Natural Materials Based Triboelectric Devices for Self‐Powered Ubiquitous Wearable and Implantable Intelligent Devices

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