Achieving ultrahigh triboelectric charge density for efficient energy harvesting.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 28729530.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-017-00131-4 and PMC identifier 5519710.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
With its light weight, low cost and high efficiency even at low operation frequency, the triboelectric nanogenerator is considered a potential solution for self-powered sensor networks and large-scale renewable blue energy. As an energy harvester, its output power density and efficiency are dictated by the triboelectric charge density. Here we report a method for increasing the triboelectric charge density by coupling surface polarization from triboelectrification and hysteretic dielectric polarization from ferroelectric material in vacuum (P ~ 10<sup>-6</sup> torr). Without the constraint of air breakdown, a triboelectric charge density of 1003 µC m<sup>-2</sup>, which is close to the limit of dielectric breakdown, is attained. Our findings establish an optimization methodology for triboelectric nanogenerators and enable their more promising usage in applications ranging from powering electronic devices to harvesting large-scale blue energy.Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) harvest ambient mechanical energy and convert it into electrical energy. Here, the authors couple surface polarization from contact electrification with dielectric polarization from a ferroelectric material in vacuum to dramatically enhance the TENG output power.