Scavenging Mechanical Energy from Human Motions Using Novel-Biomaterial-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator

In today's world, people are surrounded by smart wireless devices which require sustainable and eco-friendly power source. Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is emerging as an imperative source to produce clean, cost-effective, and easily fabricated battery-less devices. The emphasis is on using biomaterials to play a vital role for the fabrication of such self- powered system. Herein, an approach is discussed to fabricate a novel TENG from the waste biomaterials (garlic tunic, onion tunic, and almond peel) which successfully harvests the electrical energy from daily human motions (walking and running). Egg shell membrane-polytetrafluoroethylene (ESM-PTFE) TENG generates 56.6 V/0.53 mu A and is closely followed by garlic tunic-PTFE TENG with 44.6 V/0.36 mu A, onion tunic-PTFE TENG with 41.4 V/0.32 mu A, and almond peel-PTFE TENG with 40.2 V/0.29 mu A, respectively. Moreover, ESM-based TENG performance is examined using all other biomaterial combinations. These TENGs produce sufficient energy that can power an array of tens of green light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Finally, the power from human activities is harvested to control small portable electronic devices.

Automated summary

This study explores a method to fabricate a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) using waste biomaterials, successfully harvesting electrical energy from daily human motions. Different biomaterial combinations can produce enough energy to power green LEDs. These TENGs are able to harvest energy from human activities to power small portable electronic devices.