Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Wind Energy Harvesting Using an Elastomeric Microstructures

Abstract

Recently, various small electronics such as wearable devices consuming low power (nW or μW scale) are continuously being developed. However, battery systems used in conventional electronics are not suitable for small electronics because they have volume limitations and require charging / discharging processes. To overcome these problems, energy harvesters that utilizes various energy sources have been studied. Among these studies, the triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have attracted many researchers because of their ability to produce electricity by utilizing the mechanical energy that ambient in the surroundings. However, since the TENGs are operated based on contact electrification between two different materials, an artificial contact-separation process is required. In this study, we demonstrated the TENG using Ecoflex microstructures as friction-inducing material. The Ecoflex microstructures with optimized aspect ratio (~ 4) have proven to be easily oscillated by the wind due to their optimized structure and extremely low modulus (~ 0.07 MPa). This unique TENG produced an open-circuit voltage up to 1.42 V, and a short-circuit current of 3.02 μA/cm2 with the peak power density of 1.1076 μW/cm2 at a wind speed of ~ 24 m/s. We believe that the TENG will enable self-driving various small electronics.