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A highly reliable contact-separation based triboelectric nanogenerator for scavenging bio-mechanical energy and self-powered electronics

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Abstract

The increasing interest in harvesting mechanical energy from day-to-day activities is gaining huge interest among researchers. We have fabricated a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) made of aluminum and PDMS film acting as positive and negative triboelectric layers. The layers are arranged in an arc-shaped structure with an air gap of 1 cm between the layers of the device. The PDMS layer is made by blending the polymer solution with the hardener in an appropriate ratio and dried to make the transparent and flexible polymer film. The device shows a maximum electrical response of 110 V and 260 nA voltage and current with the power density of 2.9 mW/m2 at 100 MΩ load resistance. Further, the device has been used for lighting green LEDs and charging commercial capacitors. An Arduino board was connected with LED and buzzer, which was triggered by the TENG device. This shows that with the proper usage of electronic components TENG can be used for self-powered sensors and with IoT applications.

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Abbreviations

Cu:

Copper

VOC :

Open circuit voltage

ISC :

Short circuit current

nA:

Nano ampere

µF:

Microfarad

MΩ:

Mega ohms

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (2019R1A2C3009747, 2021R1A4A2000934).

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Correspondence to Sang-Jae Kim.

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Venkateswaran Vivekananthan is currently a post-doctoral researcher in Nanomaterials and Systems Lab, Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Jeju National University, South Korea. He received his Ph.D. degree in mechatronics engineering from Jeju National University, South Korea. He received his M. Tech. degree in Nanoscience & Technology (2013–2015) and B.E. degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (2010–2013) from Anna University, Chennai, India. He worked as a Project Associate in Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, India from 2015–2016. His research focuses primarily on energy harvesting using triboelectric, piezoelectric and hybrid nanogenerators with the combination of inorganic and biopolymer materials for self-powered nanosystems.

Woo Joong Kim is currently a graduate student in the Department of Mechatronics Engineering at Nanomaterials and Systems Laboratory. He is carrying out his graduate degree research program under Prof. Sang-Jae Kim. He did his bachelor degree in mechatronics engineering at Jeju National University. His research interest focuses primarily on triboelectric, electromagnetic and hybrid systems.

Nagamalleswara Rao Alluri is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at Nanomaterials & Systems Lab, Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Jeju National University (JNU). He is the recipient of a young investigator project as a principal investigator from the National Research Foundation of Korea. He received Ph.D. degree in Applied Energy Systems (Mechanical Engineering) from JNU under the supervision of Prof. Sang-Jae Kim, Prof. Ji Hyun. He obtained his Master of Technology in Sensor Systems (VIT University) and Master of Science in Condensed Mater Physics (Andhra University). His research interests include growth of nanomaterials, micro/nanodevices, energy harvesters and self- powered sensors.

Yuvasree Purusothaman is currently a Post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Jeju National University, South Korea. She is the principal investigator of a project supported by National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea. She received her Ph.D. degree under the supervision of Prof. Sang-Jae Kim in Mechatronics Engineering at Jeju National University, South Korea. She has a Master of Technology degree in Nanoscience and Technology and Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from Anna University, India. Her research interest includes synthesis of multifunctional nanomaterials, piezoelectric nanogenerators, piezotronic/piezo-phototronic effect-based sensors and self-powered nanosystems.

Gaurav Khandelwal is currently a postdoctoral researcher in Department of Mechatronics Engineering at Jeju National University, South Korea. He received his Ph.D. degree in mechatronics engineering from Jeju National university, South Korea. He holds a Bachelor and Master degree in Nanotechnology from Centre for Converging Technologies, U.O.R, India. He worked as Project Associate at Indian Institute of Technology (I.I.T), Delhi, India. His current research area includes Triboelectric Nanogenerators, nanomaterial synthesis, and characterization.

Sang-Jae Kim is a Professor in the Department of Mechatronics Engineering and the Department of Advanced Convergence Technology and Science in Jeju National University, South Korea. He received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Communication Engineering from Tohoku University, Japan. He was a visiting research scholar in Materials Science Department at University of Cambridge, UK and at Georgia Institute of Technology, USA as well as a senior researcher at National Institute of Materials Science. His research disciplines are based on nanomaterials for energy and electronics applications, covering Josephson devices, MEMS, supercapacitors, nanogenerators and nanobiosensors.

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Vivekananthan, V., Kim, W.J., Alluri, N.R. et al. A highly reliable contact-separation based triboelectric nanogenerator for scavenging bio-mechanical energy and self-powered electronics. J Mech Sci Technol 35, 2131–2139 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-021-0429-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-021-0429-z

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