p-n Junction Based Direct-Current Triboelectric Nanogenerator by Conjunction of Tribovoltaic Effect and Photovoltaic Effect.

Ren, Lele; Yu, Aifang; Wang, Wei; Guo, Di; Jia, Mengmeng; Guo, Pengwen; Zhang, Yufei; Wang, Zhong Lin et al. · Nano Lett · 2021

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have attracted much interest in recent years, due to its effectiveness and low cost for converting high-entropy mechanical energy into electric power. The traditional TENGs generate an alternating current, which requires a rectifier to provide a direct-current (DC) power supply. Herein, a dynamic p-n junction based direct-current triboelectric nanogenerator (DTENG) is demonstrated. When a p-Si wafer is sliding on a n-GaN wafer, carriers are generated at the interface and a DC current is produced along the direction of the built-in electric field, which is called the tribovoltatic effect. Simultaneously, an UV light is illuminated on the p-n junction to enhance the output. The results indicate that the current increases 13 times and the voltage increases 4 times under UV light (365 nm, 28 mW/cm<sup>2</sup>) irradiation. This work demonstrates the coupling between the tribovoltaic effect and the photovoltaic effect in DTENG semiconductors, promoting further development for energy harvesting in mechanical energy and photon energy.