Cold rolled robust metal assisted triboelectric nanogenerator for extremely durable operation

The triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), which generates electricity by means of contact electrification, has eminent advantages such as simple operation mechanism and diversity of material choice. The recent rapid development of the TENG makes the TENG as one of the promising energy harvesters in the near future but its durable operation with enhanced output performance still remains as one of the most critical challenges. In this study, we suggest a novel strategy to develop the robust TENG by employing the cold-rolled metal layer as one of the contact layers. The robustness of the cold-rolled metal layer is confirmed by directly investigating its hardness. The developed TENG exhibits no significant output degradation even after extremely high number of operation cycles (similar to 1,500,000 cycles). As the long-term TENG durability is essential for its practical utilization, the present strategy would provide a basis for semi-permanent next-generation TENGs. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.