Rationally Designed Dual‐Mode Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Harvesting Mechanical Energy by Both Electrostatic Induction and Dielectric Breakdown Effects

• Published in: Advanced energy materials Vol. 10; no. 24
• Main Authors: Zhou, Linglin, Liu, Di, Li, Shaoxin, Zhao, Zhihao, Zhang, Chunlei, Yin, Xin, Liu, Li, Cui, Shengnan, Wang, Zhong Lin, Wang, Jie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.06.2020
• Subjects: Dielectric breakdown; Electric power generation; electrostatic breakdown; electrostatic induction; Energy harvesting; Nanogenerators; Static electricity; Thickness; triboelectric charge; triboelectric nanogenerators; triboelectrification; Weight reduction
• ISSN: 1614-6832; 1614-6840
• DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202000965

With the advantages of its light weight, low cost, and high efficiency especially at low operation frequency, the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is considered to be a potential solution for self‐powered sensor networks and large‐scale renewable blue energy. However, the conventional TENG converts mechanical energy into electrical energy only via either electrostatic induction or electrostatic breakdown. Here, a novel dual‐mode TENG is presented, which can simultaneously harvest mechanical energy by electrostatic induction and dielectric breakdown in a single device. Based on the complementary working mechanism, it achieves a great improvement in the output performance with the sum of two TENGs via a single mechanism and reveals the effect of dielectric layer thickness on the triboelectrification, electrostatic induction, and air breakdown. This study establishes a new methodology to optimize TENGs and provides a new tool to investigate the triboelectrification, electrostatic induction and dielectric breakdown simultaneously. A novel dual‐mode TENG is proposed to convert mechanical energy into electricity by both electrostatic induction and electrostatic breakdown effects, which generates AC and DC outputs at the same time in a single device. Furthermore, the total output of dual‐mode TENG is improved, which is the sum of two TENGs via a single mechanism with a high triboelectrification effectiveness.