Wind-Driven Soft-Contact Rotary Triboelectric Nanogenerator Based on Rabbit Fur with High Performance and Durability for Smart Farming

Wind energy, as one kind of renewable and sustainable energy sources, is expected to solve the problem of energy consumption and environment deterioration. Here, an improved rotary triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) using rabbit fur-based soft-contact (SCR-TENG) with segmented structure for harvesting low-speed wind energy is design and fabricated. The adopted soft raw-rabbit fur shows excellent performance in triboelectrification and is beneficial to reducing frictional resistance and prolonging the lifetime of device. After 480 000 cycles, no obvious wear is observed on the dielectric film surface, and the transferred charge is not significantly attenuated. The mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency of 15.4% can be achieved. Moreover, self-powered applications have been successfully demonstrated in night direction indication, insect trapping, soil moisture detection, ambient temperature and humidity detection, and signal transmission, powered by SCR-TENG, toward smart farming.

Automated summary

Wind energy is seen as a renewable and sustainable source, and an improved rotary triboelectric nanogenerator using rabbit fur-based soft-contact has been designed to harvest low-speed wind energy. The generator has shown potential in addressing energy consumption and environmental deterioration issues.