Harsh environment–tolerant and robust triboelectric nanogenerators for mechanical-energy harvesting, sensing, and energy storage in a smart home

Ever-increasing demand for energy is driving efforts to develop environmentally sustainable technologies that can harvest and store energy. Energy-harvesting technologies that use renewable energy sources are preferable when designing sustainable and self-charging electronic devices. Large quantities of mechanical energy are available in typical homes. Fabricating a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) to harvest such energy could provide a renewable source of power for a variety of devices. However, practical TENGs have proven elusive due to a scarcity of triboelectric materials. Here, we describe the utilization of plastic and electronic waste commonly available in homes to fabricate a smart-home-applicable TENG (SHA-TENG). Because electrical performance depends on the triboelectric series, device structure is examined comprehensively. Voltage, current, charge density, and power density values of ~300 V, ~15 µA, ~70 µC/m2, and ~54 W/m2 are achievable, respectively. The resulting lightweight SHA-TENG is a smart-home fabricable device that can withstand in a harsh environment. Furthermore, the TENG can not only be employed to harvest mechanical energy and directly applied to power portable electronics, but it can also be used in self-charging energy-storage systems and motion/anti-thief sensors, as demonstrated by combing it with a power management circuit to create a self-charging lithium-ion battery. A circuit that detects spikes in voltage from the SHA-TENG in various parts of the home can serve as a smart-home motion sensor. When placed in different regions of the home, the SHA-TENG can sense motion, harvest mechanical energy involved in everyday human activities, and power various portable electronic devices.