Triboelectric nanogenerator

Today there are challenges in the global energy supply and we see an environmental pollution causing climate changes. It is required that we develop sustainable power sources with reduced carbon emissions and renewable energy technologies.

In addition to this, the world is entering a new era thanks to the combination of 5G, AI, and the internet of things (IoT). Self-powered electronics are considered to be the building blocks of this coming industrial revolution. The traditional source of power in these devices is batteries but due to their limited lifetime, environmental impact and the need to be replaced after certain time, there is a need to find a “clean” and sustainable power source.

One promising technique is the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) that converts mechanical energy to electricity. TENGs have attracted increasing attention because of their excellent energy conversion efficiency, the diverse choice of materials, and their broad applications in energy harvesting devices and self-powered sensors. Earlier on, green materials have been explored but their performances have not yet reached the level of the fluoropolymers. However, we have developed a high-performance, fully green TENG (FG-TENG) using cellulose-based tribolayers. It is shown that the FG-TENG has an output power density of above 300 W m−2, which is a new record for green-material-based TENGs. The high performance of the FG-TENG is due to the high positive charge density of the regenerated cellulose. The FG-TENG is stable after more than 30 000 cycles of operations in humidity of 30%–84%. This work demonstrates that high-performance TENGs can be made using natural green materials for a broad range of applications.