Design and research of non-contact triboelectric nanogenerator based on changing electrostatic field

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) and its self-powered sensor based on the principles of contact electricity generation and electrostatic induction have important application prospects in the fields of new energy and internet of things (IoT). In the contact separation process of polymer materials with different electronegativity values, due to the transfer of electrons, a changing electrostatic field will be generated in the space around the polymer. In the existing TENG research, the field strength perpendicular to the plane of the friction layer and the electrode layer is mainly used to generate electrostatic induction, and the electric field effect around the polymer is ignored. According to the principle of electrostatic induction, the internal charge of the conductor in the electric field will be redistributed, which provides a way for the conductor to generate an induced electrical signal on the surface of the conductor without contacting the friction material. In this paper, we design a non-contact triboelectric nanogenerator (NC-TENG) based on changing electrostatic field. The influence of the distance between the conductor and the friction material, the induction area of the conductor and the position of the conductor relative to the friction material on the induced electrical output performance are studied when silicone rubber and nitrile rubber are used as a friction material. The results show that the NC-TENG can produce a stable electrical signal output when the conductor is completely separated from the friction material. The induced voltage of NC-TENG decreases with the increase of the distance between the conductor and the friction material, and gradually increases with the increase of the conductor's induction area. For the friction material with a size of 30 mm × 30 mm, the electrical output of NC-TENG tends to be stable when its conductor area is 60 mm × 45 mm. In addition, the different orientation of the conductor relative to the friction material also has a significant effect on the induced electrical output. The NC-TENG designed in this paper provides a novel electrical output generation mode, which provides a higher possibility for the subsequent research on TENG and the application of self-powered sensors.