Textile Triboelectric Nanogenerators Simultaneously Harvesting Multiple “High-Entropy” Kinetic Energies

Abstract

Distributed renewable kinetic energies are ubiquitous but with irregular amplitudes and frequencies, which, as one category of “high-entropy” energies, are crucial for next-generation self-powered electronics. Herein, we present a flexible waterproof dual-mode textile triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), which can simultaneously scavenge multiple “high-entropy” kinetic energies, including human motions, raindrops, and winds. A freestanding-mode textile TENG (F-TENG) and a contact-separation-mode textile TENG (CS-TENG) are integrated together. The structure parameters of the textile TENG are optimized to improve the output performances. The raindrop can generate a voltage of up to ∼4.3 V and a current of about ∼6 μA, while human motion can generate a voltage of over 120 V and a peak power density of ∼500 mW m–2. The scavenged electrical energies can be stored in capacitors for powering small electronics. Therefore, we demonstrated a facile preparation of a TENG-based energy textile that is highly promising for kinetic energy harvesting and self-powered electronics.

Energy Harvesting Materials and Structures for Smart Textile Applications: Recent Progress and Path Forward

“…The charge transfer is controlled by the diode and the activation of the switch, which allows an instantaneous discharging process. Another strategy explored relies on harvesting simultaneously the energy from different sources such as human motion, wind, and rain drops that have different amplitudes and frequencies [119]. The system developed combines a free-standing mode coplanar structure to capture rain drop kinetic energy and a contact-separation mode structure to harvest the mechanical energy from human motion, wind, and rain drops.…”

Raindrop energy-powered autonomous wireless hyetometer based on liquid–solid contact electrification

“…Since the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) based on Maxwell's displacement current was proposed in 2012 [15][16][17] , it has been developed as a promising technology for rain energy harvesting [18][19][20] and active sensing [21][22][23] . For rain energy harvesting, TENGs can directly convert raindrop energy into electricity based on solid-liquid interface contact electrification [24][25][26][27][28][29][30] , which can provide sustainable micro/nanopower sources for distributed electronic devices 26,27 . For rainfall monitoring, a TENG can directly convert rainfall information into an electrical signal without other complex mechanical structures.…”

“…For rainfall monitoring, a TENG can directly convert rainfall information into an electrical signal without other complex mechanical structures. However, the signal processing and transmission of this kind of active sensor still need an external power supply [28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37] . If a raindrop-TENG (R-TENG) can be simultaneously used as a rainfall sensor and energy harvester and the signal processing and transmission of the rainfall sensor can be powered by the energy harvester, this would very promising for realizing a fully self-powered sensing system for autonomous rainfall monitoring 38 .…”

Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Harvesting Wind Energy: Recent Advances and Future Perspectives

“…For example, Zaw et al [19] proposed a wind-driven triboelectric nanogenerator (Wind-TENG) based on the fluttering of a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) belt that could sensitively harvest breeze energy at a wind speed of 1.5 m/s; the maximum output power density of Wind-TENG under a load resistance of 5 MΩ was 0.64 mW/m 2 . A flexible waterproof dual-mode textile triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) was reported by Gang et al for harvesting multiple energies including wind, rain and human motion [20]. Beyond that, TENG is also applied in portable electronic devices, active sensors, wireless sensor networks, implanted biomedical devices and other fields [21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29].…”