Hybrid energy harvester based on piezoelectric and triboelectric effects

This paper describes an energy harvester which uses triboelectric and piezoelectric effect simultaneously to harvest the mechanical energy. The vertical vibration is converted into horizontal force through the hinge structure to apply stress on woven piezoelectric films. In addition, the vertical motion induces the triboelectric energy generation due to the contact between top plate and woven structures. The nano structured metal and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surfaces were used to enhance the triboelectric effect. The maximum output voltage of 24 Vp-p and 291 Vp-p was simultaneously obtained from the triboelectric and piezoelectric effects, respectively, during the device operation at 9Hz.