High output performance flutter-driven triboelectric nanogenerator

Abstract

A key challenge that limits the actual application of flutter-driven triboelectric nanogenerators is the low electrical output. In this work, by deeply studying the vibrating process of flutter-driven triboelectric nanogenerator, we found that the inhomogeneous triboelectric charge distribution on the two face-to-face vibrating films and the inconsistent separation distance between different parts of these two films during vibrating process jointly lead to different driving effects of different parts of the films on the free electrons flowing in the external circuit, which are even opposite, thereby resulting in the low output of the flutter-driven triboelectric nanogenerators. To effectively avoid the cancellation and increase the output performance, the large area vibrating films are rationally separated into several parts with relative homogeneous triboelectric charge distribution and consistent separation distance with opposite film during vibrating process by the method of electrode segmentation and integration, which effectively makes the low output flutter-driven triboelectric nanogenerator into a high output contact-separated triboelectric nanogenerator composed of several integratable output units. By further optimization, the new developed flutter-driven TENG has the transferred charge density per time of 22.25 mC s−1 m−2, which is 2.8 times the record value (7.95 mC s−1 m−2), and 14 times of the value 1.57 mC s−1 m−2 of the general traditional structure flutter-driven TENG with the same area. It can light 2792 LEDs under a gentle wind (3.3 m s−1), which is 2.25 times of the maximum number (1240) reported in previous works under much stronger wind with speed of 15 m s−1.