Ice-based triboelectric nanogenerator with low friction and self-healing properties for energy harvesting and ice broken warning

In this paper, a new type of ice - based triboelectric nanogenerator (ICE-TENG) has been fabricated to harvest energy in cold weather. Ice is a preferred material for designing TENGs in cold winter, alpine or snowy mountain regions because of its cleanness, environmental protection, abundant reserves, low friction, and self-healing properties. The short-circuit current and voltage can achieve 2.4 µA and 48 V with 4 mm thickness of ice layer, 30 N loadings, and 5 Hz contact frequency, which can be useful in some practical applications such as lighting LEDs and charging capacitors. The ICE-TENG possesses excellent stability and can reach an output power of 35 µW under 20 MΩ loading resistance. The coefficient of friction between ice and other friction pairs is negligible, and it can even become super-slippery with the coefficient of friction below 0.008. Thus, the wear of the friction pairs is small, which can help TENG to have a long working life. Besides, due to the rapid phase change of ice, the ICE-TENG exhibits a commendable self-healing ability and maintains the original output performance after several damage and repair processes. To simulate the practical applications, a single electrode ICE-TENG driven by walking has been designed for harvesting energy on the ice surface. Because of the difference in electric output before and after the ice fragmentation, the ICE-TENGs are designed to construct a warning system to remind the danger when the ice surface suddenly shatters. Moreover, such ICE-TENGs are capable of lighting “ICE” LEDs and powering an electric watch with footsteps. This illustrates a promising potential in self-powered systems such as danger warning, charge shortage, and energy harvesting. The ice is one of the most common natural resources with its abundant reserves and wide coverage on the earth. To relieve the energy crisis in cold environment, we fabricated the ICE-TENGs by combining ice layers with the polymer films. The ice self-powered devices could convert mechanical energy into electric energy during people’s motion on the ice surface. Due to the significant change after the ice layer breaks up, a warning system was established to detect the real-time danger and raise the alarm, which could ensure people’s safe activities on the ice. The super-slippery state of the ice surface also endowed the long service life of the ICE-TENGs in energy harvesting. Therefore, the ICE-TENGs not only provides a strategy to utilize the ice layer to harvest energy, but also shows great prospects for practical applications in danger warning and self-powered systems in cold environment. • ICE-TENGs are fabricated for energy harvesting in cold environment. • The super-slippery property of the ICE-TENGs ensures the excellent wear resistance and long life of TENG. • The ICE-TENGs have multiple reversible self-healing properties during the phase transition process. • ICE-TENGs can be utilized to fabricate a warning system to protect people’s safe on the ice surface.