Scavenging Mechanical Energy from Human Motions Using Novel‐Biomaterial‐Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator

Abstract

In today's world, people are surrounded by smart wireless devices which require sustainable and eco‐friendly power source. Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is emerging as an imperative source to produce clean, cost‐effective, and easily fabricated battery‐less devices. The emphasis is on using biomaterials to play a vital role for the fabrication of such self‐ powered system. Herein, an approach is discussed to fabricate a novel TENG from the waste biomaterials (garlic tunic, onion tunic, and almond peel) which successfully harvests the electrical energy from daily human motions (walking and running). Egg shell membrane–polytetrafluoroethylene (ESM–PTFE) TENG generates 56.6 V/0.53 μA and is closely followed by garlic tunic–PTFE TENG with 44.6 V/0.36 μA, onion tunic–PTFE TENG with 41.4 V/0.32 μA, and almond peel–PTFE TENG with 40.2 V/0.29 μA, respectively. Moreover, ESM‐based TENG performance is examined using all other biomaterial combinations. These TENGs produce sufficient energy that can power an array of tens of green light‐emitting diodes (LEDs). Finally, the power from human activities is harvested to control small portable electronic devices.

Waste Biomaterial–SnO Nanoparticles Composite Based Green Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Self-Powered Human Motion Monitoring

“…The triboelectric nature of the synthesized composite with respect to all other biomaterials is shown in Figure . The triboseries presented in our previous work is now extended in this experimental study with newly synthesized composite material structures.…”

“…Maximum voltage is generated during jumping because the force experienced (pressing operation) on TENG layers during this motion is highest. In the case of running, frequency increases resulting in production of more charge as compared to walking, due to which more voltage is produced (Supporting Information, Videos V5, V6, V7).…”

“…For this research work, egg shell was collected from a household kitchen and the ESM was removed manually from the egg shell (Supporting Information Video V1). Other biomaterials which have been included in this work are onion tunic (OT), garlic tunic (GT), almond peel (AP), bombax ceiba fibers (BOM), and calotropis fibers (CALO), and their properties have been discussed in detailed in our previous work. , In this study, these biomaterials are used to define the comparative electropositive or electronegative nature of the ESM/SnO nanoparticles composite which is synthesized as discussed in the next section.…”

“…In this context, researchers are studying and fabricating TENG from numerous organic or natural materials. Some of these researches have shown very promising efficiency with can produce sufficient power for powering up electronic devices. − Kim et al designed a TENG from different types of flours for monitoring joint movements in human. Edible materials (rice flour) based TENG (EM-TENG) has the capability to produce 96 V/0.6 μA electrical response and a power density of 300 μW/cm 2 with 70MΩ load resistance .…”

All-In-One Energy Harvesting/Storage Integrated Systems Based on Eggshell Membranes

“…The integration of numerous electronic devices (sensors, microchips, wireless systems, and portable electronics) , explored in the internet of things, wearables, and implantables requires the development of flexible unities and more efficient energy storage devices. Due to the typical linear dependence between battery’s capacity and their volume, strategies for energy generation involving the energy harvesting from ambient using thermoelectric, piezoelectric, and triboelectric mechanisms appear as alternatives to prolongate the battery lifetime or even to act as a sole power unit. , …”