Biomechanical Energy Harvesting by Single Electrode-based Triboelectric Nanogenerator

Recently, soft electronic has achieved fast growth in the form of miniaturization, but the main challenge is to develop consistent energy devices. Triboelectric nanogenerator offers the best choice to utilize the prior wearable devices which integrate the uninterrupted power generator and the self-powered small sensor. Here we present the silicon rubber based mechanical energy harvesting single electrode triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), a flexible electrical uninterrupted power source, which is self-powered and can be assembled on any part of the human body where the contact separation occurs. The two triboelectric layered fabricated TENG enclosed with the elastomer i-e silicon rubber prepared from (Ecoflex-00-30) and the copper layer which acts as the electrode, human skin has been used here as the second triboelectric layer of the device. The fabricated device generated the output voltage 45V and the short circuit current 17µA, while the maximum output power achieved 19µW at the external load resistance of the 60MΩ. 30 LEDs were directly powered by the generated power from the fabricated TENG.