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Nano Research 2023, 16(2): 2502-2510 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-5056-1
Research Article | Issue | Published: 08 November 2022

Thermal-mechanical-electrical energy conversion system based on Curie effect and soft-contact rotary triboelectric nanogenerator

Show Author's Information Xiaole Cao1,2,  Xuelian Wei1,2,  Ruonan Li1,  ZhongLin Wang1,2,3( ),  Zhiyi Wu1,2,4( )
Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101400, China
School of Nanoscience and Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
CUSTech Institute of Technology, Wenzhou 325024, China
Keywords:
triboelectric nanogenerator, low-grade thermal energy, Curie effect, thermal energy harvesting
Topics:
Energy
Cite this article:
Cao X, Wei X, Li R, et al. Thermal-mechanical-electrical energy conversion system based on Curie effect and soft-contact rotary triboelectric nanogenerator. Nano Research, 2023, 16(2): 2502-2510. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-022-5056-1
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Untapped thermal energy, especially low-grade heat below 373 K from various sources, namely ambient, industries residual, and non-concentrated solar energy, is abundant and widely accessible. Despite that, there are huge constraints to recycle this valuable low-grade heat using the existing technologies due to the variability of thermal energy output and the small temperature difference between the heat source and environment. Here, a thermal-mechanical-electrical energy conversion (TMEc) system based on the Curie effect and the soft-contact rotary triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is developed to recycle thermal energy in the mid-low temperature range. According to the phase transition mechanism between ferromagnetic and paramagnetic, disk-shaped ferromagnetic materials can realize stable rotation under external magnetic and thermal fields, thus activating the operation of TENGs and realizing the conversion of thermal energy and electrical energy. During the steady rotation process, an open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 173 V and a short-circuit current (ISC) of 1.32 µA are measured. We finally obtained a maximum power of 4.45 mW in the actual working conditions, and it successfully charged different capacitors. This work provides a new method for mid-low temperature energy harvesting and thermal energy transformation and broadens the application of TENG in the field of thermal energy recovery.


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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

Thermal-mechanical-electrical energy conversion system based on Curie effect and soft-contact rotary triboelectric nanogenerator

Show Author's information Xiaole Cao1,2, Xuelian Wei1,2, Ruonan Li1, ZhongLin Wang1,2,3( ), Zhiyi Wu1,2,4( )
Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101400, China
School of Nanoscience and Technology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA
CUSTech Institute of Technology, Wenzhou 325024, China

Abstract

Untapped thermal energy, especially low-grade heat below 373 K from various sources, namely ambient, industries residual, and non-concentrated solar energy, is abundant and widely accessible. Despite that, there are huge constraints to recycle this valuable low-grade heat using the existing technologies due to the variability of thermal energy output and the small temperature difference between the heat source and environment. Here, a thermal-mechanical-electrical energy conversion (TMEc) system based on the Curie effect and the soft-contact rotary triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is developed to recycle thermal energy in the mid-low temperature range. According to the phase transition mechanism between ferromagnetic and paramagnetic, disk-shaped ferromagnetic materials can realize stable rotation under external magnetic and thermal fields, thus activating the operation of TENGs and realizing the conversion of thermal energy and electrical energy. During the steady rotation process, an open-circuit voltage (VOC) of 173 V and a short-circuit current (ISC) of 1.32 µA are measured. We finally obtained a maximum power of 4.45 mW in the actual working conditions, and it successfully charged different capacitors. This work provides a new method for mid-low temperature energy harvesting and thermal energy transformation and broadens the application of TENG in the field of thermal energy recovery.

Keywords: triboelectric nanogenerator, low-grade thermal energy, Curie effect, thermal energy harvesting

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 30 July 2022
Revised: 06 September 2022
Accepted: 14 September 2022
Published: 08 November 2022
Issue date: February 2023

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press 2022

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

Research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61503051).

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