Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Mar 11;12(6):933.
doi: 10.3390/nano12060933.

An Energy Harvester Coupled with a Triboelectric Mechanism and Electrostatic Mechanism for Biomechanical Energy Harvesting

Lei Zhai  1 , Lingxiao Gao  1 , Ziying Wang  1 , Kejie Dai  2 , Shuai Wu  1 , Xiaojing Mu  3
Affiliations

An Energy Harvester Coupled with a Triboelectric Mechanism and Electrostatic Mechanism for Biomechanical Energy Harvesting

Lei Zhai et al. Nanomaterials (Basel). .

Abstract

Energy-harvesting devices based on a single energy conversion mechanism generally have a low output and low conversion efficiency. To solve this problem, an energy harvester coupled with a triboelectric mechanism and electrostatic mechanism for biomechanical energy harvesting is presented. The output performances of the device coupled with a triboelectric mechanism and electrostatic mechanism were systematically studied through principle analysis, simulation, and experimental demonstration. Experiments showed that the output performance of the device was greatly improved by coupling the electrostatic induction mechanisms, and a sustainable and enhanced peak power of approximately 289 μW was produced when the external impedance was 100 MΩ, which gave over a 46-fold enhancement to the conventional single triboelectric conversion mechanism. Moreover, it showed higher resolution for motion states compared with the conventional triboelectric nanogenerator, and can precisely and constantly monitor and distinguish various motion states, including stepping, walking, running, and jumping. Furthermore, it can charge a capacitor of 10 μF to 3 V within 2 min and light up 16 LEDs. On this basis, a self-powered access control system, based on gait recognition, was successfully demonstrated. This work proposes a novel and cost-effective method for biomechanical energy harvesting, which provides a more convenient choice for human motion status monitoring and can be widely used in personnel identification systems.

Keywords: electrostatic mechanism; energy harvesting; human motion status monitoring; triboelectric mechanism.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic diagram of the energy harvester coupled with the triboelectric mechanism and electrostatic mechanism for biomechanical energy harvesting.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Analysis of the working principle: (a) the working principle of the W–TENG; (b) the circuit equivalent model of the W–TENG; (c) the simulation result of the output of W–TENG; (d,e) the analysis of charge-transfer direction for different materials; (f) the working principle of the C–ENG; (g) the circuit equivalent model of the C–ENG; and (h) the simulation result of the output of C–ENG.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The effects of the coupling electrostatic energy and the relationship between PTFE ball diameter and electrode width on the output of the C–ENG: (a) the effect of cross-finger electrode width on the output of the C–ENG at the PTFE ball diameter of 6 mm; (b) the effect of cross-finger electrode width on the output of the C–ENG at the PTFE ball diameter of 8 mm; (c) a curve fitted according to Figure 3a; (d) a curve fitted according to Figure 3b; (e) a comparison of output characteristics between W–TENG and C–ENG at the PTFE ball diameter of 6 mm; and (f) a comparison of output characteristics between W–TENG and C–ENG at the PTFE ball diameter of 8 mm.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The influence of the diameter of the PTFE ball on the outputs and the outputs of the device under different motion modes: (a) the influence of the diameter of the PTFE ball on the output voltage; (b) the influence of the diameter of the PTFE ball on the output current; (c) the output voltages of W–TENG under different motion modes; (d) the output currents of W–TENG under different motion modes; (e) the output voltage of C–ENG under different motion modes; and (f) the output currents of C–ENG under different motion modes.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The power and charging characteristics of C–ENG: (a) the output power of the W–TENG; (b) the output power of the C–ENG; (c) the charge curves of the C–ENG for different capacitors; and (d) the experiments on lighting LED lights by the C–ENG.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Self-powered switching system: (a) the block diagram of the self-powered switching system; (b,c) the demonstration results of passable personnel; and (d,e) the demonstration results of impassable personnel.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Self-powered heart rate testing system: (a) the electronic photo of system; (b) the block diagram of system composition; (c) the voltage changed at both ends of the capacitor before and after fast closing. After the switch was closed, the electric quantity in the capacitor began to power the heart rate sensor, and the voltage dropped sharply); and (d) pulse waveform collected.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Wei Z., Lin S., Li Q., Song C., Wang F., Tao X.M. Fiber-based wearable electronics: A review of materials, fabrication, devices, and applications. Adv. Mater. 2014;26:5310. - PubMed
    1. Han Y.Z., Yi F., Jiang C., Dai K.R., Xu Y.C., Wang X.F., You Z. Self-powered gait pattern-based identity recognition by a soft and stretchable triboelectric band. Nano Energy. 2019;56:516–523. doi: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2018.11.078. - DOI
    1. Zhang Q., Jin T., Cai J.G., Xu L., He T.Y.Y., Wang T.H., Tian Y.Z., Li L., Peng Y., Lee C.K. Wearable triboelectric sensors enabled gait analysis and waist motion capture for iot-based smart healthcare applications. Adv. Sci. 2021;9:2103694. doi: 10.1002/advs.202103694. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Liu S., Yuan F., Sang M., Zhou J.Y., Zhang J.S., Wang S., Li J.S., Xuan S.H., Gong X.L. Functional sponge-based triboelectric nanogenerators with energy harvesting, oil–water separating and multi-mode sensing performance. J. Mater. Chem. A. 2021;9:6913–6923. doi: 10.1039/D0TA12359E. - DOI
    1. Lin Z.M., Wu Z.Y., Zhang B.B., Wang Y.C., Guo H.Y., Liu G.L., Chen C.Y., Chen Y.L., Yang J., Wang Z.L. A Triboelectric nanogenerator-based smart insole for multifunctional gait monitoring. Adv. Mater. Technol. 2018;4:1800360. doi: 10.1002/admt.201800360. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources