Triboelectric Nanogenerator Boosts Smart Green Tires

Tires are important parts in creating a great transportation system because they can significantly improve the overall system safety and fuel/power efficiency. The latter is especially important for the mileage of electric vehicles due to the limited electrical storage capacity. Here, green energy tires are designed by incorporating silica tread rubber with triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). On the one hand, the silica-based tread compound sharply cuts off the rolling resistance, improves fuel efficiency and reduces CO2 emissions, and provides all-around traction without compromising braking. On the other hand, TENG converts frictional energy into electricity without changing the process of traditional tire production, which is able to be used for powering the electronics for automobile safety and automeasuring of tire pressure. The most important point lies in that TENG helps harness static electricity, which at present hinders the large-scale application of silica-filled green tires. Interestingly, it is also able to measure tire pressure and road condition from the changes in the output electrical signals, which thus leads to the smart applications of green energy tire in road/tire condition monitoring.