Natural Leaf Made Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Harvesting Environmental Mechanical Energy

Distributed environmental mechanical energy is rarely collected due to its fluctuating amplitudes and low frequency, which is usually attributed as random energy. Considering the rapid development of the Internet of things (IoT), there is a great need for a large number of distributed and sustainable power sources. Here, a natural leaf assembled triboelectric nanogenerator (Leaf-TENG) is designed by utilizing the green leaf as an electrification layer and electrode to effectively harvest environmental mechanical energy. The LeafTENG with good adaptability has the maximum output power of approximate to 45 mW m(-2), which is capable of driving advertising LEDs and commercial electronic temperature sensors. Besides, a tree-shaped energy harvester is integrated with natural Leaf-TENG to harvest large-area environmental mechanical energy. This work provides a new prospect for distributed and environmental-friendly power sources and has potential applications in the IoT and self-powered systems.