Multi-directional triboelectric nanogenerator based on industrial Q-switched pulsed laser etched Aluminum film

Abstract A multi-directional Spring-Assisted triboelectric nanogenerator (SA-TENG) with a power of 0.42 mW is susccefully fabricated based on a simple industrial technique. Here, a Q-switched pulsed laser (QSL) is applied to etch the Aluminum film surface. It enables to create a micro-nanostructured surface with a groove system perpendicular to the distance between the grooves of 20 μ m . For Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) thin films, however, the surface is modified by the Inductively Coupled Plasma Reactive Ion Etching technology (ICP-RIE). The role of QSL Etched Aluminum in enhancing the triboelectric performance of the Al/PTFE device is demonstrated. Indeed, the open-circuit voltage and the short-circuit current both increase from 80 V to 130 V and from 3.9 μ A to 6.6 μ A, respectively, when the Al surface is treated. In the vertically vibrating operation mode, the SA-TENG produces a voltage, current and power of 66 V, 5.1 μ A and 350 μ W, respectively, at the average velocity of 10 cm/s. In addition, the horizontally rotation mode with a rotation angle of 30° and an angular velocity of 30 deg/s generates an open-circuit voltage of 57 V, a short-circuit current of 4.4 μ A and a power of 64 μ W at 107 Ω . The real-time practical applicability of SA-TENG was confirmed by the lighting up of 92 LEDs connected in series and by the charging up of a 10 μ F capacitor to 2.5 V in 35 s.