Textile-based triboelectric nanogenerator with alternating positive and negative freestanding woven structure for harvesting sliding energy in all directions

A novel textile-based triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) with woven structure operating in freestanding triboelectric-layer mode, defined as a woven-TENG, has been developed. Whereas most woven-structured TENGs operate in contact-separation mode and consist of one type of triboelectric material, this woven-TENG comprises woven electrodes and woven strips of positive and negative triboelectric material, which form a checker-like pattern over the electrodes with matching periodicity. The implementation of the positive and negative triboelectric material significantly improves the performance of the woven-TENG. Furthermore, in contrast to the conventional grating-structured and woven-structured TENG, which are designed to operate only in one moving direction, this new design also allows the woven-TENG to harvest energy from all-planar directions of movement. The woven-TENG with woven strips of nylon and polytetrafluoroethylenevinyl (PTFE) fabric can generate a root mean square (RMS) open-circuit voltage of 62.9 V, an RMS short-circuit current of 1.77 µA and a maximum RMS power of 34.8 µW at a load resistance of 50 MΩ, a mechanical oscillation of 2 Hz and a contact force of 5 N. This corresponds to a maximum RMS power density of 5.43 mW/m2.