Multiple-Frequency High-Output Triboelectric Nanogenerator Based on a Water Balloon for All-Weather Water Wave Energy Harvesting

Energy and the environment are two of the main issues facing the world today. As a consequence abundant renewable green energy sources such as wave energy, have become hot topics. Here, a multiple-frequency triboelectric nanogenerator based on the water balloon (WB-TENG) is proposed for harvesting water wave energy in any direction. Owing to the high elasticity of the water balloon, the WB-TENG can realize a multiple-frequency response to low-frequency external mechanical simulations to generate high-frequency electrical output. In addition, the water balloon can achieve self-support without any additional supporting structure because of its tension, to make WB-TENG still produce electrical output under slight vibration, which can also bring high energy conversion efficiency. Moreover, the fabricated WB-TENG generates a maximum instantaneous short-circuit current and an open-circuit voltage of 147 mu A and 1221 V, respectively. Most noteworthy, under the same conditions, the total transferred charge of WB-TENG is 28 times than that of traditional TENG based on double plate structure during one working cycle. Therefore, this design can provide an effective way to promote the development of TENGs in blue energy.