Gridding Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Raindrop Energy Harvesting.

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has the great potential to harvest the electrostatic energy and mechanical energy of raindrops. However, raindrops are small and scattered, and it is difficult to harvest their mechanical energy effectively. In this paper, a gridding triboelectric nanogenerator (G-TENG) with an area of 81 cm is designed and developed to effectively harvest the mechanical energy of raindrops on a large scale.

High performance temperature difference triboelectric nanogenerator.

Usually, high temperature decreases the output performance of triboelectric nanogenerator because of the dissipation of triboelectric charges through the thermionic emission. Here, a temperature difference triboelectric nanogenerator is designed and fabricated to enhance the electrical output performance in high temperature environment. As the hotter friction layer's temperature of nanogenerator is 0 K to 145 K higher than the cooler part's temperature, the output voltage, current, surface charge density and output power are increased 2.

Enhancing the filtration efficiency and wearing time of disposable surgical masks using TENG technology.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented human and health crisis. And the shortage of protective equipment, especially the personal protective disposable surgical masks, has been a great challenge. Here, we developed an effective and simple scheme to prolong the lifetime of disposable surgical masks without changing their current structure, which is beneficial to solve the shortage of personal masks.

Enhancing the Performance of a Self-Standing Si/PCNF Anode by Optimizing the Porous Structure.

Embedding silicon nanoparticles into carbon nanofibers is one of the effective methods to fabricate a self-standing and binder-free Si-based anode material for lithium-ion batteries. However, the sluggish Li-ion transport limits the electrochemical performance in the regular strategies, especially under high rate conditions. Herein, a kind of silicon nanoparticle in porous carbon nanofiber structures (Si/PCNFs) has been fabricated through a facile electrospinning and subsequent thermal treatment.

Ultrasensitive Fiber-Based ZnO Nanowire Network Ultraviolet Photodetector Enabled by the Synergism between Interface and Surface Gating Effects.

A flexible UV photodetector with a high on/off ratio is extremely important for environmental sensing, optical communication, and flexible optoelectronic devices. In this work, a flexible fiber-based UV photodetector with an ultrahigh on/off ratio is developed by utilizing the synergism between interface and surface gating effects on a ZnO nanowire network structure. The synergism between two gating effects is realized by the interplay between surface band bending and the Fermi level through the nanowire network structure, which is proved through the control experiments between the ZnO micro/nanowire photodetector and micro/nanowire junction photodetector, and the corresponding Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) measurements.

Piezoelectric nanofiber/polymer composite membrane for noise harvesting and active acoustic wave detection.

Being one of the most common forms of energy existing in the ambient environment, acoustic waves have a great potential to be an energy source. However, the effective energy conversion of an acoustic wave is a great challenge due to its low energy density and broad bandwidth. In this work, we developed a new piezoelectric nanogenerator (PENG), which is mainly composed of a piece of piezoelectric nanofiber/polymer composite membrane.

Core-Shell Fiber-Based 2D Woven Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Effective Motion Energy Harvesting.

Personal electronic devices have a general development trend of miniaturization, functionality, and wearability. Their wireless, sustainable, and independent operation is critically important, which requests new power technologies that can harvest the ambient environmental energy. Here, we report a new kind of 2D woven wearable triboelectric nanogenerator (2DW-WTNG) composed of core-shell fibers via the twisting process and weaving process in the textile manufacture.

Flexible Self-Powered ZnO Film UV Sensor with a High Response.

Response (on/off ratio) is one of the key parameters of ultraviolet (UV) sensors. In this paper, a kind of highly sensitive ZnO UV sensor with highly increased on/off current ratio was designed and developed. Under a weak UV intensity of 0.

Theoretical Study of the BaTiO₃ Powder's Volume Ratio's Influence on the Output of Composite Piezoelectric Nanogenerator.

The combination of the piezoelectric materials and polymer is an effective way to make the piezoelectric nanogenerator (PENG) possess both the polymer's good flexibility and ferroelectric material's high piezoelectric coefficient. The volume ratio of ferroelectric material in the composite is an important factor that determines the PENG's output performance. In this paper, the BaTiO₃/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite PENG was demonstrated as having an optimal volume ratio (46%) at which the PENG can output its highest voltage, and this phenomenon can be ascribed to the trade-off between the composite PENG's top electrode charge and its capacitance.

Ultrasensitive Vertical Piezotronic Transistor Based on ZnO Twin Nanoplatelet.

High sensitivity of pressure/strain sensors is the key to accurately evaluating external mechanical stimuli and could become more important in future generations of human-machine interfaces and artificial skin. Here we report the study of a two-terminal piezotronic transistor based on ZnO twin nanoplatelets (TNPT). Owing to the mirror symmetrical structure of ZnO twin nanplatelet, compressive pressure-induced positive piezoelectric polarization charges created at both metal-semiconductor interfaces can simultaneously lower both Schottky barrier heights and thus significantly modulate the carrier transport.

Ultrasensitive 2D ZnO Piezotronic Transistor Array for High Resolution Tactile Imaging.

In this paper, a new kind of 2D piezotronic transistor (PT) with the highest sensitivity till date has been designed and demonstrated, and the 2DPT array with ultrahigh spatial resolution has been developed through assembling ZnO nanoplatelets into ordered nanoplatelet array. As active sensors by directly converting applied mechanical actuations into electrical control signals without applying gate voltage, the ZnO 2DPT array has a great advantage as a fundamental component of piezotronics. The 2DPT array paves the way for a large-scale and integrated production of two terminal vertical transistors, which will contribute to its application in many fields such as human-machine interfacing, smart sensor, and processor systems.

A new kind of transparent and self-cleaning film for solar cells.

A kind of one step and in situ etching method is developed to fabricate a highly optically transparent and flexible self-cleaning superhydrophobic film (SSF). This SSF exhibits a very rough surface morphology with hierarchical structure, which makes it have a contact angle of 154.6° and a sliding angle of smaller than 1°.

A three-dimensional integrated nanogenerator for effectively harvesting sound energy from the environment.

An integrated triboelectric nanogenerator (ITNG) with a three-dimensional structure benefiting sound propagation and adsorption is demonstrated to more effectively harvest sound energy with improved output performance. With different multifunctional integrated layers working harmonically, it could generate a short-circuit current up to 2.1 mA, an open-circuit voltage up to 232 V and the maximum charging rate can reach 453 μC s(-1) for a 1 mF capacitor, which are 4.

A Transparent Antipeep Piezoelectric Nanogenerator to Harvest Tapping Energy on Screen.

Aligning PbZr(0.52)Ti(0.48)O3 (PZT) nanowires in polydimethylsiloxane introduces dielectrophoresis, improving the electromechanical properties of nanogenerators, and the light transmittance of composite films.

Packaged triboelectric nanogenerator with high endurability for severe environments.

Many factors in the environment (such as dust, moisture and rain) severely influence the output performance of a triboelectric nanogenerator (TNG), which greatly limits its application. In this work, we designed and fabricated a kind of packaged TNG (PTNG) that can work normally in dust and humidity for harvesting noise energy. Under a sound wave of 110 dB and 200 Hz, the PTNG can generate a maximum output voltage of 72 V and a maximum output current of 0.

Wearable Triboelectric Generator for Powering the Portable Electronic Devices.

A cloth-base wearable triboelectric nanogenerator made of nylon and Dacron fabric was fabricated for harvesting body motion energy. Through the friction between forearm and human body, the generator can turn the mechanical energy of an arm swing into electric energy and power an electroluminescent tubelike lamp easily. The maximum output current and voltage of the generator reach up to 0.

Controllable fabrication of ultrafine oblique organic nanowire arrays and their application in energy harvesting.

Ultrafine organic nanowire arrays (ONWAs) with a controlled direction were successfully fabricated by a novel one-step Faraday cage assisted plasma etching method. The mechanism of formation of nanowire arrays is proposed; the obliquity and aspect ratio can be accurately controlled from approximately 0° to 90° via adjusting the angle of the sample and the etching time, respectively. In addition, the ONWAs were further utilized to improve the output of the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG).

Biocompatible nanogenerators through high piezoelectric coefficient 0.5Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.8)O3-0.5(Ba0.7Ca0.3)TiO3 nanowires for in-vivo applications.

Lead-free BZT-BCT (0.5Ba(Zr0.2Ti0.

Vibration driven vehicle inspired from grass spike.

Searching and detecting in some harsh environments such as collapsed buildings, pipes, small cracks are crucial for human rescue and industrial detection, military surveillance etc. However, the drawbacks of traditional moving modes of current vehicles make them difficult to perform such tasks. So developing some new vehicles is urgent.

Flexible fiber nanogenerator with 209 V output voltage directly powers a light-emitting diode.

On the basis of a vertically aligned ultralong Pb(Zr(0.52)Ti(0.48))O(3) (PZT) nanowire array fabricated using electrospinning nanofibers, we developed a new type of integrated nanogenerator (NG) with ultrahigh output voltage of 209 V and current density of 23.

Lead zirconate titanate nanowire textile nanogenerator for wearable energy-harvesting and self-powered devices.

Wearable nanogenerators are of vital importance to portable energy-harvesting and personal electronics. Here we report a method to synthesize a lead zirconate titanate textile in which nanowires are parallel with each other and a procedure to make it into flexible and wearable nanogenerators. The nanogenerator can generate 6 V output voltage and 45 nA output current, which are large enough to power a liquid crystal display and a UV sensor.

Magnetic force driven nanogenerators as a noncontact energy harvester and sensor.

Nanogenerator has been a very important energy harvesting technology through directly deforming piezoelectric material. Here, we report a new magnetic force driven contactless nanogenerator (CLNG), which avoids the direct contact between nanogenerator and mechanical movement source. The CLNG can harvest the mechanical movement energy in a noncontact mode to generate electricity.

Synthesis of high crystallinity ZnO nanowire array on polymer substrate and flexible fiber-based sensor.

Well aligned ZnO nanowire (NW) arrays are grown on Kevlar fiber and Kapton film via the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. These NWs have better crystallinity than those synthesized through the low-temperature hydrothermal method. The average length and diameter of ZnO NWs grown on Kevlar fiber can be controlled from 0.