Self-Powered Wireless Smart Sensor Node Enabled by an Ultrastable, Highly Efficient, and Superhydrophobic-Surface-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator.
Wireless sensor networks will be responsible for a majority of the fast growth in intelligent systems in the next decade. However, most of the wireless smart sensor nodes require an external power source such as a Li-ion battery, where the labor cost and environmental waste issues of replacing batteries have largely limited the practical applications. Instead of using a Li-ion battery, we report an ultrastable, highly efficient, and superhydrophobic-surface-based triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) to scavenge wind energy for sustainably powering a wireless smart temperature sensor node. There is no decrease in the output voltage and current of the TENG after continuous working for about 14 h at a wind speed of 12 m/s. Through a power management circuit, the TENG can deliver a constant output voltage of 3.3 V and a pulsed output current of about 100 mA to achieve highly efficient energy storage in a capacitor. A wireless smart temperature sensor node can be sustainably powered by the TENG for sending the real-time temperature data to an iPhone under a working distance of 26 m, demonstrating the feasibility of the self-powered wireless smart sensor networks.
Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences; National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST) , Beijing 100083, P. R. China.
Kun
K
Zhao
Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences; National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST) , Beijing 100083, P. R. China.|School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0245, United States.
Zhong Lin
ZL
Wang
Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences; National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST) , Beijing 100083, P. R. China.
Ya
Y
Yang
self-powered; sensor; superhydrophobic; triboelectric nanogenerator; wind energy