Submerged and completely open solid–liquid triboelectric nanogenerator for water wave energy harvesting

Abstract

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is an emerging wave energy harvesting technology with excellent potential. However, due to issues with sealing, anchoring, and difficult deployment over large areas, TENG still cannot achieve large-scale wave energy capture. Here, a submerged and completely open solid–liquid TENG (SOSL-TENG) is developed for ocean wave energy harvesting. The SOSL-TENG is adapted to various water environments. Due to its simple structure, it is easy to deploy into various marine engineering facilities in service. Importantly, this not only solves the problem of difficult construction of TENG networks at present, but also effectively utilizes high-quality wave energy resources. The working mechanism and output performance of the SOSL-TENG are systematically investigated. With optimal triggering conditions, the transferred charge (Q_tr) and short-circuit current (I_sc) of SOSL-TENG are 2.58 μC and 85.9 μA, respectively. The wave tank experiment is taken for fully demonstrating the superiority of the SOSL-TENG network in large-scale collection and conversion of wave energy. Due to the excellent output performance, TENG can harvest wave energy to provide power for various commercial electronic devices such as LED beads, hygrothermograph, and warning lights. Importantly, the SOSL-TENG networks realizes self-powered for electrochemical systems, which provides a direction for energy cleanliness in industrial systems. This work provides a prospective strategy for large-scale deployment of TENG applications, especially for harvesting wave energy in spray splash zones or at the surface of the water.

Keywords

electrochemistry / harvest / solid–liquid / triboelectric nanogenerator / wave energy

References

[1] Wang ZL, Jiang T, Xu L. Toward the blue energy dream by triboelectric nanogenerator networks. Nano Energy. 2017; 39: 9-23.

[2] Bhuyan GS. World-Wide Status for Harnessing Ocean Renewable Resources, IEEE PES General Meeting, 2010, pp. 1-3.

[3] Ellabban O, Abu-Rub H, Blaabjerg F. Renewable energy resources: current status, future prospects and their enabling technology. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2014; 39: 748-764.

[4] Xiahou X, Wu S, Guo X, Li H, Chen C, Xu M. Strategies for enhancing low-frequency performances of triboelectric, electrochemical, piezoelectric, and dielectric elastomer energy harvesting: recent progress and challenges. Sci Bull. 2023; 68(15): 1687-1714.

[5] Wen Z, Guo H, Zi Y, et al. Harvesting broad frequency band blue energy by a triboelectric-electromagnetic hybrid nanogenerator. ACS Nano. 2016; 10(7): 6526-6534.

[6] Qu Z, Huang M, Chen C, et al. Spherical triboelectric nanogenerator based on eccentric structure for omnidirectional low frequency water wave energy harvesting. Adv Funct Mater. 2022; 32(29): 2202048.

[7] Yin J, Zhang Z, Li X, et al. Waving potential in graphene. Nat Commun. 2014; 5(1): 3582.

[8] Liu Y, Wang L, Zhao L, Yu X, Zi Y. Recent progress on flexible nanogenerators toward self-powered systems. InfoMat. 2020; 2(2): 318-340.

[9] Park KI, Son JH, Hwang GT, et al. Highly-efficient, flexible piezoelectric PZT thin film nanogenerator on plastic substrates. Adv Mater. 2014; 26(16): 2514-2520.

[10] Choi D, Lee Y, Lin ZH, et al. Recent advances in triboelectric nanogenerators: from technological progress to commercial applications. ACS Nano. 2023; 17(12): 11087-11219.

[11] Chen J, Yang J, Li Z, et al. Networks of triboelectric nanogenerators for harvesting water wave energy: a potential approach toward blue energy. ACS Nano. 2015; 9(3): 3324-3331.

[12] Liu D, Yin X, Guo H, et al. A constant current triboelectric nanogenerator arising from electrostatic breakdown. Sci Adv. 2019; 5(4): eaav6437.

[13] Xu H, Wang X, Nan Y, et al. Flexible sponge-based nanogenerator for energy harvesting from land and water transportation. Adv Funct Mater. 2023; 33(49): 2304723.

[14] Wang M, Wang X, Nan Y, et al. Droplet energy harvesting system based on MXene/SiO₂ modified triboelectric nanogenerators. Chem Eng J. 2023; 477: 146832.

[15] Ball P. Squeezing out power. Nat Mater. 2024; 23(1): 28.

[16] Cui M, Feng Y, Wu H, Jin Y, Li W, Wang Z. Low-frequency blue energy harvesting for sustainable and active anticorrosion. Nano Res. 2023; 16(9): 11871-11877.

[17] Wang X, Niu S, Yin Y, Yi F, You Z, Wang ZL. Triboelectric nanogenerator based on fully enclosed rolling spherical structure for harvesting low-frequency water wave energy. Adv Energy Mater. 2015; 5(24): 1501467.

[18] Zhao Z, Zhang Z, Xu L, et al. Tumbler-shaped hybrid triboelectric nanogenerators for amphibious self-powered environmental monitoring. Nano Energy. 2020; 76: 104960.

[19] Yang Y, Zheng L, Wen J, et al. A swing self-regulated triboelectric nanogenerator for high-entropy ocean breaking waves energy harvesting. Adv Funct Mater. 2023; 33(45): 2304366.

[20] Jiang T, Pang H, An J, et al. Robust swing-structured triboelectric nanogenerator for efficient blue energy harvesting. Adv Energy Mater. 2020; 10(23): 2000064.

[21] Lin Z, Zhang B, Guo H, et al. Super-robust and frequency-multiplied triboelectric nanogenerator for efficient harvesting water and wind energy. Nano Energy. 2019; 64: 103908.

[22] Zhang C, He L, Zhou L, et al. Active resonance triboelectric nanogenerator for harvesting omnidirectional water-wave energy. Joule. 2021; 5(6): 1613-1623.

[23] Ahmed A, Saadatnia Z, Hassan I, et al. Self-powered wireless sensor node enabled by a duck-shaped triboelectric nanogenerator for harvesting water wave energy. Adv Energy Mater. 2016; 7(7): 1601705.

[24] Liu L, Yang X, Zhao L, et al. Nodding duck structure multi-track directional freestanding triboelectric nanogenerator toward low-frequency ocean wave energy harvesting. ACS Nano. 2021; 15(6): 9412-9421.

[25] Bai Y, Xu L, He C, et al. High-performance triboelectric nanogenerators for self-powered, in-situ and real-time water quality mapping. Nano Energy. 2019; 66: 104117.

[26] Wei X, Zhao Z, Zhang C, et al. All-weather droplet-based triboelectric nanogenerator for wave energy harvesting. ACS Nano. 2021; 15(8): 13200-13208.

[27] Pan L, Wang J, Wang P, et al. Liquid-FEP-based U-tube triboelectric nanogenerator for harvesting water-wave energy. Nano Res. 2018; 11(8): 4062-4073.

[28] Yoo D, Jang S, Cho S, Choi D, Kim DS. A liquid triboelectric series. Adv Mater. 2023; 35(26): 2300699.

[29] Xia Z, Rozyyev V, Mane AU, Elam JW, Darling SB. Surface zeta potential of ALD-grown metal-oxide films. Langmuir. 2021; 37(39): 11618-11624.

[30] Zimmermann R, Freudenberg U, Schweiß R, Küttner D, Werner C. Hydroxide and hydronium ion adsorption—a survey. Curr Opin Colloid Interface Sci. 2010; 15(3): 196-202.

[31] Zhou Q, Wang B, Gao A, et al. Solution-tube-based volume effect triboelectric nanogenerator with salt and pH sensitivity. Adv Funct Mater. 2022; 32(47): 2209100.

[32] Yang L, Yu J, Guo Y, Chen S, Tan K, Li S. An electrode-grounded droplet-based electricity generator (EG-DEG) for liquid motion monitoring. Adv Funct Mater. 2023; 33(36): 2302147.

[33] Nan Y, Wang X, Xu H, et al. Synergistic effects of charge transport and trapping in tribomaterials for boosted triboelectric nanogenerators. Nano Energy. 2023; 110: 108345.

[34] Zhang W, He W, Dai S, et al. Wave energy harvesting based on multilayer beads integrated spherical TENG with switch triggered instant discharging for self-powered hydrogen generation. Nano Energy. 2023; 111: 108432.

[35] Ghosh K, Iffelsberger C, Konečný M, Vyskočil J, Michalička J, Pumera M. Nanoarchitectonics of triboelectric nanogenerator for conversion of abundant mechanical energy to green hydrogen. Adv Energy Mater. 2023; 13(11): 2203476.

[36] Meng J, Zhang L, Liu H, et al. A new single-electrode generator for water droplet energy harvesting with a 3 mA current output. Adv Energy Mater. 2023; 14(5): 2303298.

[37] Wu M, Guo W, Dong S, et al. A hybrid triboelectric nanogenerator for enhancing corrosion prevention of metal in marine environment. npj Mater Degrad. 2022; 6(1): 73.

[38] Sun W, Wang N, Li J, et al. Humidity-resistant triboelectric nanogenerator and its applications in wind energy harvesting and self-powered cathodic protection. Electrochim Acta. 2021; 391: 138994.

[39] Zhu Z, Xiang H, Zeng Y, et al. Continuously harvesting energy from water and wind by pulsed triboelectric nanogenerator for self-powered seawater electrolysis. Nano Energy. 2022; 93: 106776.

[40] Liu X, Xu X, Zhang F, et al. A synergistic anti-corrosion system based on durable superhydrophobic F-SiO₂/epoxy coatings and self-powered cathodic protection. J Mater Chem A. 2022; 10(36): 18616-18625.

[41] Lin C, Sun L, Meng X, et al. Covalent organic frameworks with tailored functionalities for modulating surface potentials in triboelectric nanogenerators. Angew Chem Int Ed. 2022; 61(42): e202211601.

[42] Cheng B, Niu S, Xu Q, Wen J, Bai S, Qin Y. Gridding triboelectric nanogenerator for raindrop energy harvesting. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2021; 13(50): 59975-59982.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2024 The Author(s). InfoMat published by UESTC and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.