Recent advances in water-driven triboelectric nanogenerators based on hydrophobic interfaces

Water as an important renewable resource widely exists in human life in the form of raindrops, rivers, oceans, and so on. The efficient utilization of water energy has always been a hot spot in water-related researches. In recent years, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) show great potential in water energy harvesting due to its advantages of light weight, excellent flexibility, low cost, and high energy-collection efficiency. It is noteworthy that a hydrophobic interface can promote the complete separation of water and have the advantages of self-cleaning, anti-icing, anti-sticking, and anti-fogging, which is of great importance for the practical application of TENGs. This paper outlines the recent advances of water-driven TENGs based on hydrophobic interfaces, including the advantages of hydrophobic interfaces, materials used in hydrophobic interfaces, construction methods of effective hydrophobic interfaces, and explores the applications and future trends of water-driven TENGs based on hydrophobic interfaces.