Scalable fabrication of triboelectric nanogenerators for commercial applications

Abstract

Harvesting mechanical energy from irregular sources is a potential way to charge batteries for devices and sensor nodes. Triboelectric effect has been extensively utilized in energy harvesting devices as a method to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. As triboelectric nanogenerators have immense potential to be commercialized, it is important to develop scalable fabrication methods to manufacture these devices. This paper presents scalable fabrication steps to realize large scale triboelectric nanogenerators. Roll-to-roll UV embossing and lamination techniques are used to fabricate different components of large scale triboelectric nanogenerators. The device generated a peak-to-peak voltage and current of 486 V and 21.2 μA, respectively at a frequency of 5 Hz.