Enhancing output performance of triboelectric nanogenerator by increasing charge storage capacity of electrodes

The practical application of rotating triboelectric nanogenerators is often limited by the wear of high-friction surface materials and low surface charge density. In addition to the charge pump replenishment strategy, suppressing charge decay is also crucial for increasing surface charge density. Here, we present a high performance rotary triboelectric nanogenerator (HPR-TENG) based on a coplanar charge pumping strategy and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) film. It has been demonstrated that applying PVC film to the surface of the storage electrode of the main TENG (M-TENG) significantly enhances the M-TENG’s output performance. Furthermore, the HPR-TENG with three layers of PVC film pasted achieved the best output performance, with a peak-to-peak output voltage of 2828 V, a peak-to-peak output current of 327 μA and a charge transfer of 0.81 μC at 500 rpm. In addition, the output improvement effects of different materials are ranked. the TENG with 3 layers of PVC film pasted on it has a maximum output power of 748 mW at a load resistance of 4 × 10⁶ Ω. HPR-TENG’s output performance remains consistent after 100,000 cycles, which shows excellent stability. The excellent electrical performance of the HPR-TENG can be used as the energy supply for the tip high-voltage breakdown sensor system, which can achieve 14 breakdowns in 10 s. Due to its extraordinary electrical performance, HPR-TENG can not only serve as an energy supply for cutting-edge high-voltage breakdown sensor systems, but also has the potential to serve as an energy supply for high-pressure sterilization, high-pressure vacuum and water electrolysis.