A multi-layered interdigitative-electrodes-based triboelectric nanogenerator for harvesting hydropower

Abstract

Hydropower is the most important and wildly-used renewable energy source in the environment. In this paper, we demonstrate a multi-layered triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) to effectively harvest the water wave energy. For a single-layered TENG, interdigitive electrodes are incorporated in order to generate multiple electric outputs under water wave or water drop impact. For the collection of water wave energy, a polyurethane (PU) coated copper rod is used to roll back and forth and contact with the polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) film covered interdigitative electrodes. The surfaces of the PU and PTFE films are fabricated as porous structures and nanowire arrays, which provide an advantages of large contact area and efficient separation. Under one wave impact, the single-layered TENG composed of nine pairs of interdigitative electrodes can provide nine pulses of electric outputs (each pulsed output voltage is 52 V and output current density is 13.8 mA m À 2 ). The instantaneous output power density of a five-layered TENG is 1.1 W m À 2 . In addition, the PTFE film covered interdigitative electrodes has been successfully used to harvest water drop energy, whcih can also generate 9 pulses of electric outputs upon one water drop falling. All these results show the developed TENG has a potential to harvest the hydropower of ocean wave and raindrop in the near future.Please cite this article as: Z.-H. Lin, et al., A multi-layered interdigitative-electrodes-based triboelectric nanogenerator for harvesting hydropower, Nano Energy (2015), http://dx.

Hybrid nanogenerators based on triboelectrification of a dielectric composite made of lead-free ZnSnO 3 nanocubes

“…Wang and co-workers showed the first nanogenerators (NGs) which converted energy directly from mechanical motion to electrical power in 2006 [4,5]. Since then, various structures of nanogenerators have been fabricated [6][7][8].…”

Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Mechanical Energy Harvesting

“…Lin and his co‐workers successfully harvested the energy generated from water waves by fabricating a multi‐layered TENG . This TENG consisted of a layered structure with a polyurethane (PU) coated copper rod roll on the nanowires, like the structure of PTFE covered with interdigitative electrodes (Figure i).…”

“…The energy produced from the TENG is effectively stored in the attached Li‐ion battery . TENGs are also integrated with photovoltaic technology to form hybrid energy cell, which can harvest water energy as well as solar energy individually, even in harsh conditions. The conformal, graphene‐based TENG can be integrated with human skin and can detect the touch of fingers and convert this into Morse code that can be further used for communicating with the speech‐impaired people.…”

A Water‐Driven Triboelectric Generator for Electrocatalytic Wastewater Treatment

“…To date, four types of operational modes of the TENGs devices have been investigated to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. These are contact, single‐electrode, sliding, and the freestanding modes . Water is also a triboelectric material that can generate charges by electrostatic induction with appropriate combination of another material from the triboelectric series.…”

“…[6][7][8][9] To date, four types of operational modes of the TENGs devices have been investigated to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy.T hese are contact, single-electrode,s liding, and the freestanding modes. [10][11][12] Water is also at riboelectric material that can generatec harges by electrostatic induction with appropriatec ombination of another material from the triboelectric series.H owever, the triboelectric properties of water and water-based triboelectric devices have not been explored thoroughly.T riboelectric generators can be used to harvest mechanical energy from flowing water and ocean waves. [13][14][15][16][17] Ap olymer-basedT ENG can be operated by the kinetic energy of flowing water, which provides the possibility of fabricating self-powered, environmentally sustainable systems.…”