Hierarchical Honeycomb-Structured Electret/Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Biomechanical and Morphing Wing Energy Harvesting

• Published in: Nano-micro letters Vol. 13; no. 1; pp. 123 - 16
• Main Authors: Tao, Kai, Chen, Zhensheng, Yi, Haiping, Zhang, Ruirong, Shen, Qiang, Wu, Jin, Tang, Lihua, Fan, Kangqi, Fu, Yongqing, Miao, Jianmin, Yuan, Weizheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Nature Singapore 01.12.2021; Springer Nature B.V; SpringerOpen
• Subjects: Biomechanics; Cellular structure; Circuits; Conversion; Elastic properties; Electret power generation; Electric contacts; Electricity; Energy; Energy absorption; Energy harvesting; Engineering; Flapping wings; Fluorinated ethylene propylenes; Footwear; Formability; High temperature; Honeycomb structures; Honeycomb-inspired structure; Insoles; Lightweight; Mapping; Molding (process); Morphing; Morphing wing energy harvesting; Multilayered thin films; Nanogenerator; Nanoscale Science and Technology; Nanotechnology; Nanotechnology and Microengineering; Open circuit voltage; Polyethylene terephthalate; Power management; Self-powered insole pressure mapping; Synchronism; Thin films; Triboelectric nanogenerator; Unmanned aerial vehicles; Triboelectric nanogenerator; Honeycomb-inspired structure; Morphing wing energy harvesting; Self-powered insole pressure mapping; Electret power generation
• ISSN: 2311-6706; 2150-5551; 2150-5551
• DOI: 10.1007/s40820-021-00644-0

Highlights Create a hierarchical honeycomb-inspired triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) with excellent transparency, compactness, lightweight and deformability. Amplify capacitance variation by dividing large hollow space into numerous energy generation units with porous honeycomb architecture. Demonstrate self-powered insole plantar pressure mapping applications by the self-sustained elastic nature of the h-TENG device. Integrate the h-TENG into the morphing wing of small-unmanned aerial vehicles for converting flapping motions into electricity for the first time. Flexible, compact, lightweight and sustainable power sources are indispensable for modern wearable and personal electronics and small-unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Hierarchical honeycomb has the unique merits of compact mesostructures, excellent energy absorption properties and considerable weight to strength ratios. Herein, a honeycomb-inspired triboelectric nanogenerator (h-TENG) is proposed for biomechanical and UAV morphing wing energy harvesting based on contact triboelectrification wavy surface of cellular honeycomb structure. The wavy surface comprises a multilayered thin film structure (combining polyethylene terephthalate, silver nanowires and fluorinated ethylene propylene) fabricated through high-temperature thermoplastic molding and wafer-level bonding process. With superior synchronization of large amounts of energy generation units with honeycomb cells, the manufactured h-TENG prototype produces the maximum instantaneous open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current and output power of 1207 V, 68.5 μA and 12.4 mW, respectively, corresponding to a remarkable peak power density of 0.275 mW cm −3 (or 2.48 mW g −1 ) under hand pressing excitations. Attributed to the excellent elastic property of self-rebounding honeycomb structure, the flexible and transparent h-TENG can be easily pressed, bent and integrated into shoes for real-time insole plantar pressure mapping. The lightweight and compact h-TENG is further installed into a morphing wing of small UAVs for efficiently converting the flapping energy of ailerons into electricity for the first time. This research demonstrates this new conceptualizing single h-TENG device's versatility and viability for broad-range real-world application scenarios.