Journal Article

Constructing high-performance and versatile liquid–solid triboelectric nanogenerator with inflatable columnar units

Sun, Qijun, Liu, Chao, Xiong, Yao, Chen, Mingxia, Liu, Yang, Luo, Lin, Xu, Nuo, Wei, Liang, Wang, Yifei, Huo, Ziwei, Yang, Jiahong, Gu, Rui, Wang, Zhong Lin

2025

Overview

The use of water resources for energy generation has become increasingly prevalent, encompassing the conversion of kinetic energy from streams, tides, and waves into renewable electrical power. Water energy sources offer numerous benefits, including widespread availability, stability, and the absence of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, making them a clean and environmentally friendly form of energy. In this work, we develop a droplet-based liquid–solid triboelectric nanogenerator (LS-TENG) using sophisticatedly designed inflatable columnar structures with inner and outer dual-electrodes. This device can be utilized to harvest both the internal droplet-rolling mechanical energy and the external droplet-falling mechanical energy, capable of being assembled into various structures for versatile applications. The design incorporates a combined structure of both internal and external TENG to optimize output performance via multiple energy harvesting strategies. The internal structure features a dual-electrode columnar-shaped LS-TENG, designed to harvest fluid kinetic energy from water droplets. By leveraging the back-and-forth motion of a small amount of water within the air column, mechanical energy can be readily collected, achieving a maximum mass power density of 9.02 W·Kg −1 and an energy conversion efficiency of 10.358%. The external component is a droplet-based LS-TENG, which utilizes a double-layer capacitor switch effect elucidated with an equivalent circuit model. Remarkably, without the need for pre-charging, a single droplet can generate over 140 V of high voltage, achieving a maximum power density of 7.35 W·m −2 and an energy conversion efficiency of 22.058%. The combined LS-TENG with a sophisticated inflatable columnar structure can simultaneously collect multiple types of energy with high efficacy, exhibiting great significance in potential applications such as TENG aeration rollers, inflatable lifejacket, wind energy harvesting, TENG tents, and green houses. In this paper, a novel and elaborate basic unit structure of inflatable column is proposed. The combination of alternating/direct-current from LS-TENG significantly improves the output performance and energy conversion efficiency. The LS-TENG promises versatile structural designs that can collect energy from multiple application scenarios. The LS-TENG can be used as an efficient and promising energy source for outdoor exploration and ocean rescue. The LS-TENG with inflatable columnar units can be used for self-powered and self-irrigation monitoring system.

• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• Subject: Aeration / Carbon dioxide / Clean energy / Columnar structure / combined AC/DC TENG / Design optimization / Droplets / Electrodes / Emissions / Energy / Energy conversion efficiency / Energy harvesting / Equivalent circuits / Flux density / Greenhouse gases / inflatable columnar structure / Inflatable structures / Kinetic energy / Maximum power density / Moisture content / Nanogenerators / self-powered sensing / solid-liquid triboelectrification / Water drops / Water resources / Wind power