Alternating Magnetic Field-Enhanced Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Low-Speed Flow Energy Harvesting

Abstract

Low-speed flow energy, such as breezes and rivers, which are abundant in smart agriculture and smart cities, faces significant challenges in efficient harvesting as an untapped sustainable energy source. This study proposes an alternating magnetic field-enhanced triboelectric nanogenerator (AMF-TENG) for low-speed flow energy harvesting, and demonstrates its feasibility through experimental results. AMF-TENG's minimum cut-in speed is 1 m s−1, thereby greatly expanding its wind energy harvesting range. When the wind speed is 1–5 m s−1, the open-circuit voltage (VOC) is 20.9–179.3 V. The peak power is 0.68 mW at 5 m s−1. In a durability test of 100 K cycles, the VOC decreases from 188.4 to 174.2 V but remain at 92.5% of the initial value. furthermore, the AMF-TENG can harvest low-speed flow energy from the natural environment to power temperature and humidity sensors and wireless light intensity sensor in smart agriculture. This study provides a promising method for low-speed flow energy harvesting in distributed applications.