Effective energy storage from a hybridized electromagnetic-triboelectric nanogenerator

We report a hybridized electromagnetic-triboelectric nanogenerator including an electromagnetic generator (EMG) and a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) for simultaneously scavenging wind energy. The TENG can deliver a largest output power of about 1.7 mW under a loading resistance of 10 M Omega, while the EMG can deliver a largest output power of about 2.5 mW under a loading resistance of 1 k Omega. A power management circuit has been designed to store the produced energy from the TENG into a capacitor, resulting in the enhanced energy-storage efficiency of up to 112% as compared with that of using a traditional rectifier. The charging rate of the capacitor by using the TENG has been optimized by changing the inductance and the switching on/off time. As compared with the individual TENG or EMG, the hybridized nanogenerator has a much better ability for sustainably powering a temperature sensor, exhibiting the potential applications of hybridized nanogenerators in self-powered sensor systems.