High-Entropy Ceramic-Enhanced Deformable Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Noncontact Biomechanical and Raindrop Energy Harvesting.

Abstract

To address interfacial friction losses associated with physical contact separation in triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), noncontact or liquid-solid-contact TENGs have recently been developed. However, the limited performance of noncontact TENGs has hindered their further advancement. This study proposed a large-area deformable high-entropy ceramic (HEC)-enhanced noncontact TENG (HEC-TENG) by integrating an HEC-doped silicone triboelectric layer with a charge-storage graphitic textile and a stretchable carbon black electrode. This strategy establishes a comprehensive tribo-charge regulation mechanism, including charge generation, capture, transport, and retention, resulting in a noncontact output of 90 V and 450 µA m^-2 at a separation distance of 1 mm, while maintaining a stretchability exceeding 230%. Notably, by leveraging the synergistic effects of HEC doping and the trilayer composite configuration, the HEC-TENG achieved a maximum voltage of 466 V for droplet-based energy harvesting. Furthermore, wearable power sources and large-area rainwater-harvesting systems enabled by HEC-TENGs were demonstrated. Overall, this work validates the universal enhancement effect of HECs when employed as triboelectric layers in both noncontact and liquid-solid contact TENGs, establishing a representative paradigm for the development of wearable HEC-based TENGs. These findings provide new insights into future wearable self-powered electronics and distributed energy-harvesting systems.