Scalable rolling-structured triboelectric nanogenerator with high power density for water wave energy harvesting toward marine environmental monitoring
Yuxue Duan, Hongxuan Xu, Shijie Liu, Pengfei Chen, Xiangyi Wang, Liang Xu, Tao Jiang, Zhong Lin Wang
Abstract
In the context of advocating a green and low-carbon era, ocean energy, as a renewable strategic resource, is an important part of planning and building a new energy system. Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) arrays provide feasible and efficient routes for large-scale harvesting of ocean energy. In previous work, a spherical rolling-structured TENG with three-dimensional (3D) electrodes based on rolling motion of dielectric pellets was designed and fabricated for effectively harvesting low-frequency water wave energy. In this work, the external shape of the scalable rolling-structured TENG (SR-TENG) and internal filling amount of pellets were mainly optimized, achieving an average power density of 10.08 W·m −3 under regular triggering. In actual water waves, the SR-TENG can deliver a maximum peak power density of 80.29 W·m −3 and an average power density of 6.02 W·m −3 , which are much greater than those of most water wave-driven TENGs. Finally, through a power management, an SR-TENG array with eight units was demonstrated to successfully power portable electronic devices for monitoring the marine environment. The SR-TENGs could promote the development and utilization of ocean blue energy, providing a new paradigm for realizing the carbon neutrality goal.