Facile Tailoring of Contact Layer Characteristics of the Triboelectric Nanogenerator Based on Portable Imprinting Device

Abstract

Renewable energy harvesting technologies have been actively studied in recent years for replacing rapidly depleting energies, such as coal and oil energy. Among these technologies, the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), which is operated by contact-electrification, is attracting close attention due to its high accessibility, light weight, high shape adaptability, and broad applications. The characteristics of the contact layer, where contact electrification phenomenon occurs, should be tailored to enhance the electrical output performance of TENG. In this study, a portable imprinting device is developed to fabricate TENG in one step by easily tailoring the characteristics of the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) contact layer, such as thickness and morphology of the surface structure. These characteristics are critical to determine the electrical output performance. All parts of the proposed device are 3D printed with high-strength polylactic acid. Thus, it has lightweight and easy customizable characteristics, which make the designed system portable. Furthermore, the finger tapping-driven TENG of tailored PDMS contact layer with microstructures is fabricated and easily generates 350 V of output voltage and 30 μA of output current with a simple finger tapping motion-related biomechanical energy.

Rational Design Strategy for Triboelectric Nanogenerators Based on Electron Back Flow and Ionic Defects: The Case of Polytetrafluoroethylene

“…As a result, an alternating signal is obtained by reiterating pressing and releasing. [60,61,62] The CS mode involves only vertical contact and separation, which allowed us to avoid more complicated processes with shear stresses and wear. [63,64,65] We characterized the triboelectric output generated during the pushing/releasing motion employing PTFE samples irradiated for the same times of exposure as in Figure 2, realizing a different device for each different time.…”

A highly sensitive magnetic configuration‐based triboelectric nanogenerator for multidirectional vibration energy harvesting and self‐powered environmental monitoring

“…The aforementioned BVMC is applied to the MS‐TENG as shown in Figure 1D, and its electrical output performance in response to multidirectional vibration is evaluated. To enhance the electrical output of the MS‐TENG, the corona charging process, which injects electrical charges into the contact layer, is adopted and doubles the electrical output, and the representative output generating behavior of the MS‐TENG is shown in Figure S2 45‐47 . To quantitatively analyze the performance, the maximum output voltage ( V o_ max ) generated by the MS‐TENG during its operation is compared under various conditions.…”

“…To enhance the electrical output of the MS-TENG, the corona charging process, which injects electrical charges into the contact layer, is adopted and doubles the electrical output, and the representative output generating behavior of the MS-TENG is shown in Figure S2. [45][46][47] To quantitatively analyze the performance, the maximum output voltage (V o_max ) generated by the MS-TENG during its operation is compared under various conditions. Considering that the operation of the MS-TENG is based on the sequential contact and separation of two contact layers (ie, the FEP contact and Al electrode layers), the relative position of the two contact layers in equilibrium state also affects the output characteristics.…”

Emerging Trends in Soft Electronics: Integrating Machine Intelligence with Soft Acoustic/Vibration Sensors

“…Succinctly, the working mechanism of the triboelectric sensor is as follows: (1) when the upper electrode is in contact with the dielectric layer, the electrical charge pairs are generated on the contact interface; (2) as the upper electrode deforms upward further away from the dielectric layer, electrons in the lower electrode travel to the upper electrode to achieve electro-neutrality, generating short-circuit current; (3) at the maximum deformation, the upper electrode becomes electrically neutral while the lower electrode turns positively charged due to the lack of electrons; and (4) as the upper electrode deforms downward closer to the dielectric layer, electrons in the upper electrode moves to the lower electrode to achieve electro-neutrality, generating short-circuit current once again. [81,82] The triboelectric acoustic/vibration sensors generate alternating short-circuit currents through repeated contacts and separations between the electrode and the dielectric layer.…”