title: Networks of triboelectric nanogenerators for harvesting water wave energy: a potential approach toward blue energy.
abstract: With 70% of the earth's surface covered with water, wave energy is abundant and has the potential to be one of the most environmentally benign forms of electric energy. However, owing to lack of effective technology, water wave energy harvesting is almost unexplored as an energy source. Here, we report a network design made of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) for large-scale harvesting of kinetic water energy. Relying on surface charging effect between the conventional polymers and very thin layer of metal as electrodes for each TENG, the TENG networks (TENG-NW) that naturally float on the water surface convert the slow, random, and high-force oscillatory wave energy into electricity. On the basis of the measured output of a single TENG, the TENG-NW is expected to give an average power output of 1.15 MW from 1 km(2) surface area. Given the compelling features, such as being lightweight, extremely cost-effective, environmentally friendly, easily implemented, and capable of floating on the water surface, the TENG-NW renders an innovative and effective approach toward large-scale blue energy harvesting from the ocean.
authors.affiliation: †School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0245, United States.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: †School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0245, United States.|‡Department of Optoelectronic Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: †School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0245, United States.
authors.forename: Zhaoling
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: †School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0245, United States.
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: †School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0245, United States.
authors.forename: Yunlong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zi
authors.affiliation: †School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0245, United States.
authors.forename: Qingshen
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.affiliation: †School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0245, United States.
authors.forename: Hengyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: †School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0245, United States.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: †School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0245, United States.
authors.forename: Ken C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Pradel
authors.affiliation: †School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0245, United States.
authors.forename: Simiao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: †School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0245, United States.|∥Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Zhong Lin
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Wang
keywords: TENG-NW; blue energy harvesting; triboelectrification