The Effect of Surface Texture on Teflon as Electrification Layer of 360° Lateral-Sliding Mode Triboelectric Generator

Abstract

Harvesting neglected mechanical energy from daily activities and converting it into electrical energy is a crucial start towards clean, low-cost, and sustainable energy. In this work, we report a development of a Teflon-based rotating triboelectric generator (TEG) and its relationship with rotational speed. The texture on Teflon was modified by uni-directionally rubbing the sandpaper with three different grit numbers; 500, 1000, and 1500 respectively, 50 times each. The surface roughness of the Teflon was measured using Mitutoyo Surface Roughness Machine SJ-310 before and after undergoing the 360° lateral sliding mode TEG test. The highest surface roughness was from 500 grit sandpaper, forming a Ra of 1.550 µm. Moreover, this surface of Teflon generated the highest output voltage of 25.3 mV at 1500 rpm with a calculated power density of 0.37 mW/m2. This simple technique gives an overview of how the surface texture may improve the electrical output of TEG by integrating the electrification contact area of TEG.