title: Nanoscale triboelectric-effect-enabled energy conversion for sustainably powering portable electronics.
abstract: Harvesting energy from our living environment is an effective approach for sustainable, maintenance-free, and green power source for wireless, portable, or implanted electronics. Mechanical energy scavenging based on triboelectric effect has been proven to be simple, cost-effective, and robust. However, its output is still insufficient for sustainably driving electronic devices/systems. Here, we demonstrated a rationally designed arch-shaped triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) by utilizing the contact electrification between a polymer thin film and a metal thin foil. The working mechanism of the TENG was studied by finite element simulation. The output voltage, current density, and energy volume density reached 230 V, 15.5 μA/cm(2), and 128 mW/cm(3), respectively, and an energy conversion efficiency as high as 10-39% has been demonstrated. The TENG was systematically studied and demonstrated as a sustainable power source that can not only drive instantaneous operation of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) but also charge a lithium ion battery as a regulated power module for powering a wireless sensor system and a commercial cell phone, which is the first demonstration of the nanogenerator for driving personal mobile electronics, opening the chapter of impacting general people's life by nanogenerators.
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0245, United States.
authors.forename: Sihong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Long
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Zhong Lin
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D040421:Cell Phone; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004581:Electronics / Q000295:instrumentation; D004867:Equipment Design; D008094:Lithium / Q000737:chemistry; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers; D008094:Lithium