title: Triboelectric nanogenerator built on suspended 3D spiral structure as vibration and positioning sensor and wave energy harvester.
abstract: An unstable mechanical structure that can self-balance when perturbed is a superior choice for vibration energy harvesting and vibration detection. In this work, a suspended 3D spiral structure is integrated with a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) for energy harvesting and sensor applications. The newly designed vertical contact-separation mode TENG has a wide working bandwidth of 30 Hz in low-frequency range with a maximum output power density of 2.76 W/m(2) on a load of 6 MΩ. The position of an in-plane vibration source was identified by placing TENGs at multiple positions as multichannel, self-powered active sensors, and the location of the vibration source was determined with an error less than 6%. The magnitude of the vibration is also measured by the output voltage and current signal of the TENG. By integrating the TENG inside a buoy ball, wave energy harvesting at water surface has been demonstrated and used for lighting illumination light, which shows great potential applications in marine science and environmental/infrastructure monitoring.
authors.affiliation: School of Material Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0245, United States.
authors.forename: Youfan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Qingshen
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.forename: Simiao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.forename: Wenzhuo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Zhong Lin
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Wang