Increase Output Energy and Operation Frequency of a Triboelectric Nanogenerator by Two Grounded Electrodes Approach

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) generally operates using two‐electrodes to form a closed outer circuit loop without directly contacting ground. Here, a newly designed TENG, the two electrodes of which are grounded for doubling the energy output and the operation frequency, is introduced. The TENG operates in two modes: two‐channel mode in which the two electrodes are simultaneously connected to the ground, and single‐channel mode in which the two electrodes are alternately connected to the ground through a self‐triggered vibrating switch. Both modes doubles the total charges to be transported compared to the traditional ungrounded TENG. For the single‐channel TENG, about 30 current peaks with an output frequency of 50 Hz are generated in a single cycle at a motion triggering frequency of 2 Hz. The output energy at a load lower than 10 MΩ of the single‐channel TENG is enhanced, and the enhancing ratio is more than 100 at a load of 100 kΩ. The two electrodes grounded TENG provides a new strategy for effective use of the energy harvested from our living environment.