Harvesting Wind Energy by a Triboelectric Nanogenerator for an Intelligent High-Speed Train System

Abstract

The operation cost of an intelligent high-speed train system is greatly increased by the enormous energy demand of large-scale signal and sensor networks. However, the wind energy generated by high-speed trains is completely neglected. Herein, a wind-energy-harvesting device, which is based on an elastic rotation triboelectric nanogenerator (ER-TENG), is fabricated to harvest the wind energy generated by high-speed moving trains and power the relevant signal and sensing devices. Due to the significant decrease in friction force resulting from reasonable material selection and elastic structure design, the energy-harvesting efficiency of an ER-TENG is doubled and the durability is increased by 4 times compared to the same characteristics of a conventional rotation sliding triboelectric nanogenerator (RS-TENG). Our findings not only provide an in situ energy-harvesting pattern for an intelligent high-speed rail system by recovering the otherwise wasted wind energy generated by high-speed trains but also offer a potential strategy for large-scale wind energy harvesting by TENGs.

Hybrid Triboelectric-Electromagnetic Nanogenerators for Mechanical Energy Harvesting: A Review

“…Structures with flexible hair brushes have been used to greatly reduce the operation friction resistance, enhance the device durability and solve the charge dissipation problem [ 76 ]. The friction forces of TENGs fabricated by PTFE were shown to be lower than those with PVC and FEP under the same pressure, namely in wind energy harvesting excited by the movement of high-speed rail vehicles [ 196 ]. Thus, based on the reasonable selection of dielectric materials with minimal friction coefficient, the results highlight that the friction force of a double-layer PTFE/Kapton elastic rotation TENG was greatly reduced, the energy harvesting efficiency was doubled and its durability increased by 4 times [ 196 ].…”

“…The friction forces of TENGs fabricated by PTFE were shown to be lower than those with PVC and FEP under the same pressure, namely in wind energy harvesting excited by the movement of high-speed rail vehicles [ 196 ]. Thus, based on the reasonable selection of dielectric materials with minimal friction coefficient, the results highlight that the friction force of a double-layer PTFE/Kapton elastic rotation TENG was greatly reduced, the energy harvesting efficiency was doubled and its durability increased by 4 times [ 196 ]. Another effective strategy to simultaneously enhance the power density and durability of sliding-mode TENGs is via liquid lubrication interface [ 197 ].…”

“…Low frequencies and amplitudes of excitation are associated with the low input powers and predominance of velocity independent Coulomb’s mechanical dry friction. Some solutions to overcome this problem might include the use of flexible brushes as contact materials [ 76 ], rational selection of low-friction dielectric materials [ 196 ] and interface liquid lubrication [ 197 ]. Understanding of the conversion mechanism—Obtaining a better understanding of the triboelectric effect and its relation to the environmental conditions could be useful to optimize the performance of the harvesters.…”

“…Low frequencies and amplitudes of excitation are associated with the low input powers and predominance of velocity independent Coulomb’s mechanical dry friction. Some solutions to overcome this problem might include the use of flexible brushes as contact materials [ 76 ], rational selection of low-friction dielectric materials [ 196 ] and interface liquid lubrication [ 197 ].…”

Harvesting Multidirectional Breeze Energy and Self‐Powered Intelligent Fire Detection Systems Based on Triboelectric Nanogenerator and Fluid‐Dynamic Modeling

“…Compared with traditional turbines with large volume and low space utilization, [ 8 ] TENG has the characteristics of small size, [ 9 ] low cost, [ 10 ] and good response to low‐frequency mechanical vibration. [ 11 ] It can be employed to scavenge the wind energy in the low‐speed region, further optimize the utilization of space, and generate electricity near the ground, which can not only complement the traditional power supply such as batteries and power plants, but also reduce the thousands of feet of wiring required by wind turbines and power plants.…”