Magnetically levitated-triboelectric nanogenerator as a self-powered vibration monitoring sensor

Abstract This paper presents a magnetically levitated-triboelectric nanogenerator to harvest mechanical energy and detect acceleration of the vibratrion in the surroundings. Based on the effective conjunction of triboelectrification and electromagnetic induction, maximum power density of 3.23 W m −3 is obtained at 100 MΩ and 10 m s −2 for the triboelectric part, while the electromagnetic part can provide power density of 2.25 W m −2 at 1 KΩ and 10 m s −2 . The hybridized nanogenerator also exhibits a good stability for the output performance and a good charging performance. This hybridized nanogenerator can light up 40 commercial light-emitting diode bulbs and charge a 470 μF capacitor by using a power management circuit. Furthermore, due to the magnetically-levitated structure, the hybridized nanogenerator has been utilized as a vibrometer. It can clearly detect the vibration with the acceleration less than 30 m s −2 and amplitude less than 7.5 mm. This work not only presents a novel approach in the field of mechanical energy harvesting, but also a solid step towards self-powered monitoring technology.