Electric-Field-Resonance-Based Wireless Triboelectric Nanogenerators and Sensors

Energy harvesting and energy transmission are the key technologies for self-powered systems; thus, the combination of these two is urgently needed. An innovative electric field resonance (EFR)-based wireless triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is proposed herein. By integrating the TENG with a capacitive coupler, the output of the TENG can be transmitted wirelessly from the transmitter to the receiver in the form of an oscillating signal with an energy-transfer efficiency of 67.8% for a 5 cm distance. Theoretical models of the EFR-TENG system are established, showing excellent agreement with the experimental results. It is demonstrated that the flexible EFR-TENG worn on the wrist can drive a digital watch wirelessly or light up at least 40 light-emitting diodes in series. The EFR-TENG is further utilized for spontaneous wireless sensing with a transmission distance up to 2.3 m with high system tolerance, showing the great potential of this novel strategy for energy harvesting and real-time wireless sensing applications.

Automated summary

An innovative wireless TENG system based on EFR was proposed in this study, which achieved efficient wireless energy transmission with good experimental results. The wrist-worn TENG can drive a watch or light up multiple LEDs, demonstrating the potential of this technology.