Development of Flexible Triboelectric Generators Based on Patterned Conductive Textile and PDMS Layers

Yeau-Ren Jeng,Andrew E Mendy,Shih-Feng Tseng,Chi-Tse Ko,Chii-Rong Yang

doi:10.3390/en14051391

Abstract

A triboelectric generator (TEG) is a simple coupling combined with triboelectrification and electrostatic induction, which can convert mechanical energy into electrical energy and have the potential for self-powered device application. In this study, TEGs are fabricated consisting of a conductive textile (CT) layer (a fabric woven with polyester and stainless steel) and a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) layer. The CT friction layer is also used as a conductive electrode and designed with various surface morphologies, including unpatterned, dots, and lines with 1 and 2 cm spacings. Experimental results show that the TEG with an unpatterned CT layer produces an output voltage of 54.6 V and an output current of 5.46 µA. The patterned surfaces increase the effective contact area and friction effect between the CT and PDMS layers and hence enhance the output voltage and current to 94.4 V and 9.44 µA. Compared to the unpatterned CT layer, the pattern use of 1 cm spaced lines, 2 cm spaced lines, and dots improves the output voltage and current by 1.73, 1.68, and 1.24 times, respectively. Moreover, the TEG with 1 cm spaced lines generates a high output power density of 181.9 mW/m2.

Highlights

Conventional mechanisms for converting electromagnetic induction into electric power harvest only high-frequency mechanical energy [1,2]
The triboelectric generator (TEG) were designed with four different morphologies of the conductive textile (CT) surface, namely, unpatterned, dotpatterned, line-patterned with a spacing of 1 cm, and line-patterned with a spacing of
It has been shown that the TEG with an unpatterned CT surface generates an output voltage of 66.4 V and a current of 6.64 μA

Summary

Introduction

Conventional mechanisms for converting electromagnetic induction into electric power harvest only high-frequency mechanical energy [1,2]. The issues of developing triboelectric generators (TEGs) or triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) to harvest these low-frequency energies have attracted significant attention in the literature. TEGs have been developed for many applications, such as self-powered wearable electronics, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, electronic skins, energy storage devices, potential diagnostics, biosensors, and body motion sensors [8–17]. TEG/TENG devices may be generated by many different mechanical energy conversion mechanisms, including rolling, bending, pressing, rotating, roll–swing, vibration, and sliding [18–25]. Irrespective of the mechanism employed, all TEGs/TENGs rely on a contact electrification and electrostatic induction effect, in which the materials within the TEGs/TENGs become electrically charged once they are brought into contact with one another and subsequently separated [26–32]. The performance of TEGs/TENGs is fundamentally dependent on the choice of materials, and on the surface morphologies of the contact interface between the two layers when they are pressed into contact with one another

Objectives

Results

Conclusion