Development and characterization of double-contact triboelectric nanogenerator with improved energy harvesting performance

A major goal of triboelectric generator is to improve its power output by identifying and optimizing the factors contributing to the harvesting capability. In this study, we developed a double-contact triboelectric nanogenerator (DC-TENG) capable of two contact and separation pairs by adding an additional air-gap layer. The voltage and current output was characterized as a function of the contact speed, position, stroke time (ST), standstill time (SST), and the existence of two air-gaps. The voltage and current output increased non-linearly with decreasing the times. The DC-TENG produced the maximum voltage and current output when the ratio of ST to SST was 7 to 3. Our prototype resembling a pavement block was capable of lighting 144 LED lights by producing a maximum output of 650 V, 25 μA at a pressure of 0.5 kgf/cm2.