Triboelectric nanogenerators applications in renewable energy production

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

1 Condensed Matter Group Department of Physics Iran University of Science and Technology

2 Condensed Matter Group Department of Physics,, Iran University of Science and technology

10.22034/jrenew.2025.225525
Abstract
The growth of global population and technology advancements in different countries have evolved the energy supply and demand models. The increase in energy demands and limitations in fossil fuels and their shortage, have enforced human beings to modify energy models with the exploit of unlimited natural resources such as wind, water and human body. With the innovations in technology, the use of renewable resources has been the center of interest for the replacement of fossil fuels. However, the current methods in exploiting these resources, have many shortcomings. Low efficiency, high cost, dependence on atmospheric conditions and the requirement of complex technical knowledge are some of the limitations. Among these resources, triboelectric nano generators however, have opened new avenues to energy supply with their exceptional perspectives. Since these generators have the capacity to turn mechanical energy into electrical energy, they can be very useful in daily basis requirements while provides energy by mechanical movements of human and nature. Herein, the mechanisms of energy generation by triboelectric nanogenerators are discussed. The energy intake from human body movements, wearable devices, water droplets, ocean waves, wind, acoustic waves and magnetic fields are categorized and presented. Finally, the benefits and challenges in applying triboelectric nanogenerators in real life and commercialization has been discussed.

Keywords

Subjects


- مراجع
[1] R. E. C. P. A.  IRENA, International Renewable Energy Agency. 2021.
[2] N. El Bassam, M. Schlichting, D. Pagani, Distributed Renewable Energies for Off-Grid Communities, Empowering a Sustainable, Competitive, and Secure Twenty-First Century. Elsevier. (Eds.) 2021. 
[3] M. Popek, Alternative Fuels–Prospects for the Shipping Industry, TransNav, Int. J. Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 25-33, 2024.
[4] N. Belyakov, Sustainable Power Generation. Current status, Future challenges, and perspectives, pp. 417-438, 2019.
[5] G. Halkos, E-C. Gkampoura, Assessing fossil fuels and renewables impact on energy poverty conditions in Europe, Energies, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 560, 2023.
[6] H. Ye et al., Research progress of nano-catalysts in the catalytic conversion of biomass to biofuels: Synthesis and application, Fuel Vol. 356, pp. 129594, 2024.
[7] K. Dorota, J. Z. Piotrowski, and J. Latosińska, Biomass-alternative renewable energy source to the fossil fuels, E3S web of conferences. Vol. 14. EDP Sciences, 2017.
[8] A. Heras, Supply-side climate policy and fossil fuels in developing countries: a neo-Gramscian perspective, International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp. 49-74, 2024.
[9] U. Mukhopadhyay and R. Pani, Emission and sectoral energy intensity: A variance decomposition analysis, Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 33, No. 4, pp. 955-974, 2022.
[10] G. Loffreda et al., The dangers of “health washing” the fossil fuel industry, bmj, Vol. 381, 2023.
[11] J. C. M. Pires and A. L. da Cunha Gonçalves, (Eds.), Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage: using natural resources for sustainable development. Academic Press, 2019. 
[12] A. Hassan et al., Monetization of the environmental damage caused by fossil fuels, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Vol. 28, pp. 21204-21211, 2021.
[13] C. Jiang, X. Li, S. W. M. Lian, Y. Ying, J. S. Ho and J. Ping, Wireless technologies for energy harvesting and transmission for ambient self-powered systems, ACS nano, Vol. 15, No. 6, pp. 9328-9354, 2021.
[14] X. Wei et al., All-weather droplet-based triboelectric nanogenerator for wave energy harvesting. ACS nano, Vol. 15, No. 8, pp. 13200-13208, 2021.  
[15] A. Giani and Z. Eldredge, Quantum computing opportunities in renewable energy, SN Computer Science, Vol. 2, No. 5, pp. 393, 2021.
[16] B. Shao, , et al., Bioinspired hierarchical nanofabric electrode for silicon hydrovoltaic device with record power output, ACS nano, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 7472-7481, 2021.
[17] Z. L. Wang, et al., On the origin of contact-electrification. Mater. Today, Vol. 30, pp. 34–51, 2019.
[18] J. Shao, , et al., 3D mathematical model of contact-separation and single-electrode mode triboelectric nanogenerators, Nano Energy, Vol. 60, pp. 630–640, 2019.
[19] C. Zhang et al., Surface charge density of triboelectric nanogenerators: Theoretical boundary and optimization methodology, Applied Materials Today, Vol. 18, pp. 100496, 2020.
[20] R. D. Dharmasena et al., Nature of power generation and output optimization criteria for triboelectric nanogenerators. Adv. Energy Mater. 8, 1802190, 2018.
[21] T. Cheng, J. Shao and Z.L. Wang, Triboelectric nanogenerators. Nat Rev Methods Primers, Vol. 3, pp. 39 (2023).
[22] W-G. Kim et al., Triboelectric nanogenerator: Structure, mechanism, and applications, ACS Nano, Vol. 15.1, pp. 258-287, 2021.
[23] F. Yi et al., Stretchable‐rubber‐based triboelectric nanogenerator and its application as self‐powered body motion sensors. Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 25, No. 24, pp. 3688-3696, 2015.  
[24] X. Guan et al., Breathable, washable and wearable woven-structured triboelectric nanogenerators utilizing electrospun nanofibers for biomechanical energy harvesting and self-powered sensing, Nano Energy, Vol. 80, pp. 105549, 2021.
[25] C. Li, et al., Self‐healable triboelectric nanogenerators: Marriage between self‐healing polymer chemistry and triboelectric devices, Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 33, No. 20, pp. 2208372, 2023.
[26] C. Li, et al., Self-healable, stretchable triboelectric nanogenerators based on flexible polyimide for energy harvesting and self-powered sensors. Nano Energy, Vol. 109, pp. 108285, 2023.
[27] Y. Zou et al., A bionic stretchable nanogenerator for underwater sensing and energy harvesting. Nature Communications, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 2695, 2019.
[28] Y. Gao et al., Asymmetric-elastic-structure fabric-based triboelectric nanogenerators for wearable energy harvesting and human motion sensing, Chemical Engineering Journal, Vol. 466, pp. 143079, 2023.
[29] W. Yuan et al., Wearable, breathable and waterproof triboelectric nanogenerators for harvesting human motion and raindrop energy, Advanced Materials Technologies, Vol. 7. No. 6, pp. 2101139, 2022.
[30] M. Wu, and Z. Li, A wearable flexible triboelectric nanogenerator for bio-mechanical energy harvesting and badminton monitoring, Heliyon, Vol. 10, No. 10, 2024.
[31] C. Gao et al., A seamlessly integrated device of micro-supercapacitor and wireless charging with ultrahigh energy density and capacitance, Nature communications, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 2647, 2021.
[32] Z. Liu et al., Ultraflexible in-plane micro-supercapacitors by direct printing of solution-processable electrochemically exfoliated graphene, Advanced Materials, Vol. 28, No. 11, pp. 2217-2222, 2016.
[33] Z. Liu et al., Ultrathin, flexible and transparent graphene-based triboelectric nanogenerators for attachable curvature monitoring. J. Phys. D: Applied Physics, Vol. 52, No. 31, pp. 314002, 2019.
[34] X. Pu et al., Eye motion triggered self-powered mechnosensational communication system using triboelectric nanogenerator, Science Advances, Vol. 3, No. 7, pp. 1700694, 2017.
[35] N. Mohamadbeigi et al., Triboelectric nanogenerator‐enabled 3D microporous polydimethylsiloxane–graphene oxide nanocomposite for flexible self‐powered humidity sensing applications, Energy Technology, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 2301136, 2024.
[36] Y. Yang et al., Triboelectric nanogenerator for harvesting wind energy and as self-powered wind vector sensor system, ACS nano, Vol. 7, No. 10, pp. 9461-9468, 2013.
[37] S. Liu,  P. Li, and Y. Yang, On the design of an electromagnetic aeroelastic energy harvester from nonlinear flutter, Meccanica, Vol. 53, pp. 2807-2831, 2018.
[38] Y. Wang, et al., A humidity resistant and high performance triboelectric nanogenerator enabled by vortex-induced vibration for scavenging wind energy, Nano Research, Vol. 15, pp. 3246-3253, 2022.
[39] Z. Zhao, et al., Freestanding flag-type triboelectric nanogenerator for harvesting high-altitude wind energy from arbitrary directions. ACS Nano, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 1780-1787, 2016.
[40] Bian, Y., Jiang, T., Xiao, T., Gong, W., Cao, X., Wang, Z., & Wang, Z. L. Triboelectric nanogenerator tree for harvesting wind energy and illuminating in subway tunnel. Advanced Materials Technologies, 3(3), 1700317, (2018).
[41] L. Jin et al., Free-fixed rotational triboelectric nanogenerator for self-powered real-time wheel monitoring, Advanced Materials Technologies, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 2000918, 2021.
[42]   X. Fan, et al., Triboelectric-electromagnetic hybrid nanogenerator driven by wind for self-powered wireless transmission in Internet of Things and self-powered wind speed sensor, Nano Energy, Vol. 68, pp. 104319, 2020.
[43] Y. Wu et al., Hybrid energy cell for simultaneously harvesting wind, solar, and chemical energies, Nano Research, Vol. 7, pp. 1631-1639, 2014.  
[44] S. Wang et al., Efficient scavenging of solar and wind energies in a smart city, ACS nano, 10(6), 5696-5700, 2016.
[45] Z. L. Wang et al., Toward the blue energy dream by triboelectric nanogenerator networks, Nano Energy, Vol. 39, pp. 9-23, 2017.  
[46] F. Xi, et al., Self-powered intelligent buoy system by water wave energy for sustainable and autonomous wireless sensing and data transmission, Nano Energy, Vol. 61, pp. 1-9, 2019.
[47] M. Xu et al., High power density tower-like triboelectric nanogenerator for harvesting arbitrary directional water wave energy, ACS nano, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 1932-1939, 2019.
[48]  R. Lei et al., Butterfly‐Inspired Triboelectric Nanogenerators with Spring‐Assisted Linkage Structure for Water Wave Energy Harvesting, Advanced Materials Technologies, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 1800514, 2019.
[49] Z. L. Wang, Catch wave power in floating nets. Nature, Vol. 542, No. 7640, pp. 159-160, 2017.
[50] A.S. Kazemi , et al., Large total area membrane of suspended single layer graphene for water desalination, Desalination, Vol. 451, pp. 160-171, 2019.
[51] A.S. Kazemi et al., Support based novel single layer nanoporous graphene membrane for efficacious water desalination, Desalination, Vol. 451, pp. 148-159, 2019.
[52] A.S. Kazemi, and M.A. Abdol, Nano-Porous Graphene as Free-Standing Membranes, in Two-Dimensional (2D) Nanomaterials in Separation Science, Springer. pp. 43-86, 2021.
[53] F. B. Azodzadegan and A.S. Kazemi, Structure and wettability variations of single layer graphene via SF6 plasma, Iranian Journal of Materials Science and Engineering, in peer review.
[54] J. Yin, et al., Generating electricity by moving a droplet of ionic liquid along graphene, Nat. Nanotech., Vol. 9, No. 5, pp. 378-383, 2014.
[55] A. Noori, M.J. Eshraghi, M. Samiee, A.S. Kazemi, The Effect of Pressure on the Growth of Single-Layer Graphene on Copper Sheets
by Chemical Vapor Deposition Methods, J. of Materi Eng and Perform, Vol. 33, pp. 1996-2001, 2024.
[56] A. Noori, M.J. Eshraghi, A.S. Kazemi, Effect of temperature on low pressure chemical vapor deposition of graphene, Advanced Ceramics Progress, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 36-43, 2022.
[57] Y. Tang et al., Triboelectric touch‐free screen sensor for noncontact gesture recognizing, Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 30, No. 5, pp. 1907893, 2020.
[58] R. Hinchet et al., Transcutaneous ultrasound energy harvesting using capacitive triboelectric technology, Science, Vol. 365, No. 6452, pp. 491-494, 2019.
[59] Z. Yu et al., Integrated piezo-tribo hybrid acoustic-driven nanogenerator based on porous MWCNTs/PVDF-TrFE aerogel bulk with embedded PDMS tympanum structure for broadband sound energy harvesting, Nano Energy, Vol. 97, pp. 107205, 2022.
[60] W. Sun et al., Enhancing the acoustic-to-electrical conversion efficiency of nanofibrous membrane-based triboelectric nanogenerators by nanocomposite composition, Nano Energy,  Vol. 108, pp. 108248, 2023.
[61] Y. Li et al., Self-powered acoustic sensor based on triboelectric nanogenerator for smart monitoring, Acoustics Australia, Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 383-391, 2022.
[62] L-B. Huang et al., Magnetic-assisted noncontact triboelectric nanogenerator converting mechanical energy into electricity and light emissions, Advanced materials,  Vol. 28, No. 14, pp. 2744-2751, 2016.
[63] C. Dongwhi et al., Recent Advances in Triboelectric Nanogenerators: From Technological Progress to Commercial Applications, ACS Nano, Vol. 17, pp. 11087−11219, 2023.
[64] S. H. Jeong et al., Accelerated wound healing with an ionic patch assisted by a triboelectric nanogenerator, Nano Energy, Vol. 79, pp. 105463, 2021.
[65] Y. Su et al., Self-powered respiration monitoring enabled by a triboelectric nanogenerator, Adv. Mater., Vol. 33, No. 35, pp. 2101262, 2021
Volume 12, Issue 2 - Serial Number 24
September 2025
Pages 189-199

  • Receive Date 23 October 2024
  • Revise Date 18 December 2024
  • Accept Date 11 May 2025