Vortex-driven triboelectric nanogenerator for multidirectional wind energy collection with humidity resistance

Wind energy is an environmentally friendly and sustainable energy source that is abundantly available in nature. Wind energy collection devices based on triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) can efficiently collect distributed wind energy in the environment. In this work, we propose a TENG to collect wind energy based on the vortex-induced vibration effect. It consists of three parts: an octahedral base to encapsulate the TENG, a central axis and a cylindrical fan blade. Such a design improves the environmental tolerance of TENGs and allows them to collect wind energy from all directions. At a wind speed of 3.5 m/s, the average output power of the device was 49.5 μW under a 70 MΩ load resistance, while in a high-humidity environment, this value reached 45.5 μW. The device is capable of continuously powering small commercial electronic devices at a wind speed of 3.5 m/s, indicating its potential for urban distributed wind energy harvesting.