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A square-grid triboelectric nanogenerator (SG-TENG) is demonstrated for harvesting vibrational energy and sensing impulsive forces. Each square of the three-dimensional (3D)-printed square grid is filled with an aluminum (Al) ball. The grid structure allows the SG-TENG to harvest vibrational energy over a broad bandwidth and operate at different vibrational angles. The most striking feature of the SG-TENG is its ability of being scaled and integrated. After connecting two SG-TENGs in parallel, the open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current are significantly increased over the full vibrational frequency range. Being integrated with a table tennis racket, the SG-TENG can harvest the vibrational energy from hitting a ping pong ball using the racket, where a direct hit by the racket generates an average output voltage of 10.9 ± 0.6 V and an average output current of 0.09 ± 0.02 μA. Moreover, the SG-TENG integrated into a focus mitt can be used in various combat sports, such as boxing and taekwondo, to monitor the frequency and magnitude of the punches or kicks from boxers and other practitioners. The collected data allow athletes to monitor their status and improve their performance skills. This work demonstrates the enormous potential of the SG-TENG in energy harvesting and sensing applications.


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Integrative square-grid triboelectric nanogenerator as a vibrational energy harvester and impulsive force sensor

Show Author's information Chuan He1,2Weijun Zhu3,4Guang Qin Gu1,2,5Tao Jiang1,2Liang Xu1,2Bao Dong Chen1,2Chang Bao Han1,2Dichen Li3,4Zhong Lin Wang1,2,6( )
Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and NanosystemsChinese Academy of SciencesBeijing100083China
CAS Center for Excellence in NanoscienceNational Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST)Beijing100190China
State Key Laboratory of Manufacturing Systems EngineeringXi'an Jiaotong UniversityXi'an710049China
Collaborative Innovation Center of High-End Manufacturing EquipmentXi'an Jiaotong UniversityXi'an710049China
University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing100049China
School of Materials Science and EngineeringGeorgia Institute of TechnologyAtlanta, GA, 30332-0245USA

Abstract

A square-grid triboelectric nanogenerator (SG-TENG) is demonstrated for harvesting vibrational energy and sensing impulsive forces. Each square of the three-dimensional (3D)-printed square grid is filled with an aluminum (Al) ball. The grid structure allows the SG-TENG to harvest vibrational energy over a broad bandwidth and operate at different vibrational angles. The most striking feature of the SG-TENG is its ability of being scaled and integrated. After connecting two SG-TENGs in parallel, the open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current are significantly increased over the full vibrational frequency range. Being integrated with a table tennis racket, the SG-TENG can harvest the vibrational energy from hitting a ping pong ball using the racket, where a direct hit by the racket generates an average output voltage of 10.9 ± 0.6 V and an average output current of 0.09 ± 0.02 μA. Moreover, the SG-TENG integrated into a focus mitt can be used in various combat sports, such as boxing and taekwondo, to monitor the frequency and magnitude of the punches or kicks from boxers and other practitioners. The collected data allow athletes to monitor their status and improve their performance skills. This work demonstrates the enormous potential of the SG-TENG in energy harvesting and sensing applications.

Keywords: triboelectric nanogenerator, sensor, vibration, square grid

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Publication history
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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 24 April 2017
Revised: 17 August 2017
Accepted: 25 August 2017
Published: 03 October 2017
Issue date: February 2018

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany 2017

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

Supports from the "thousands talents" program for the pioneer researcher and his innovation team, the National Key R & D Project from Minister of Science and Technology, China (No. 2016YFA0202704), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51432005, 51608039, 5151101243, 51561145021, and 51505457), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2015M581041), and Natural Science Foundation of Beijing, China (No. 4154090) are appreciated.

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