A study on the design parameters for water–solid triboelectric energy harvesting with a channel device

Abstract

This study demonstrates a channel device to harvest energy from water flow in a channel, which can fix the water droplet’s shape and speed. By using this device configuration, design parameters like material thickness, water droplet’s speed and length, and electrode length were able to analyze independently. An electrical output is generated when different Teflon thicknesses coated on the top and bottom electrodes of the channel. The device with the overall thinnest Teflon layers can produce the highest short circuit current of 2.346 ± 0.018 nA and open-circuit voltage of 2.01 ± 0.01 V. Furthermore, the short circuit current increases with the water droplet speed in the channel. However, short circuit current output remains unchanged when the electrode and the water droplet’s length changes. For potential device application, the channel device can produce a direct current – like short circuit current output with a long duration (~1s) of constant current (Ipk = 2.358 nA). This was achieved simply by using a long electrode and water droplet length of 25 mm. The findings in this study not only provide information to understand the design parameters in water–solid triboelectric energy harvesting devices but also helpful for future device design to generate a constant current output.