Floating Oscillator-Embedded Triboelectric Generator for Versatile Mechanical Energy Harvesting.

Myeong-Lok Seol,Jin-Woo Han,M Meyyappan,Yang-Kyu Choi,Seung-Bae Jeon

doi:10.1038/srep16409

Myeong-Lok Seol, Jin-Woo Han + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/srep16409

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Abstract

A versatile vibration energy harvesting platform based on a triboelectricity is proposed and analyzed. External mechanical vibration repeats an oscillating motion of a polymer-coated metal oscillator floating inside a surrounding tube. Continuous sidewall friction at the contact interface of the oscillator induces current between the inner oscillator electrode and the outer tube electrode to convert mechanical vibrations into electrical energy. The floating oscillator-embedded triboelectric generator (FO-TEG) is applicable for both impulse excitation and sinusoidal vibration which universally exist in usual environment. For the impulse excitation, the generated current sustains and slowly decays by the residual oscillation of the floating oscillator. For the sinusoidal vibration, the output energy can be maximized by resonance oscillation. The operating frequency range can be simply optimized with high degree of freedom to satisfy various application requirements. In addition, the excellent immunity against ambient humidity is experimentally demonstrated, which stems from the inherently packaged structure of FO-TEG. The prototype device provides a peak-to-peak open-circuit voltage of 157 V and instantaneous short-circuit current of 4.6 μA, within sub-10 Hz of operating frequency. To visually demonstrate the energy harvesting behavior of FO-TEG, lighting of an array of LEDs is demonstrated using artificial vibration and human running.

Highlights

With the rapid development of wireless sensor networks and portable electronic devices, the demand for mobile electricity sources has been continuously growing
The middle part of the tube is composed of an Al electrode with polished surfaces, which serves as the outer electrode (OE)
Continuous sinusoidal vibration induces a resonance oscillation to provide a maximized energy generation, as long as the input frequency is within the operating frequency range

Summary

Introduction

With the rapid development of wireless sensor networks and portable electronic devices, the demand for mobile electricity sources has been continuously growing. Harvesting energy from our environment has recently become a promising alternative for sustainable but moderate power source. Impulse excitations usually present large amplitude with short duration time, while sinusoidal vibrations are mostly found in the form of small amplitudes and high frequency. Both impulse excitations[36,37,38,39] and sinusoidal vibrations[40,41,42,43,44,45,46] are widely focused sources of TEG. The floating oscillator-embedded triboelectric generator (FO-TEG) is designed to harvest both the impulse excitation and sinusoidal vibration. The triboelectric interface where contact electrification occurs is protected by the encapsulated tube to form a self-packaged structure, which improves immunity against undesired environmental effects such as humidity and debris[36,38,45]

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