Thermal‐Driven Soft‐Contact Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Energy Harvesting and Industrial Cooling Water Monitoring

Abstract In this paper, a quaternary dielectric soft‐contact rotary triboelectric nanogenerator (QDSR‐TENG) of low frictional resistance is fabricated for combining TENG with a shape memory alloy (SMA) engine. The introduction of rabbit fur brush and FEP brush results in charge pumps with a partially soft contact structure. Benefiting from the low friction loss of the structure, the QDSR‐TENG can operate stably and continually for 100k cycles without significant output degradation. The SMA engine exhibits thermally induced phase transformation and super‐elasticity and can be utilized for harnessing waste heat energy. The thermal‐driven QDSR‐TENG can operate with a water source of 43 °C with a distinguishable response to the variation of temperatures. Such a low starting temperature not only promotes the harvesting of low‐grade thermal energy, but also results in a self‐monitoring industrial cooling water system. The coupled elastocaloric power and cooling cycle proposed in the thermal‐driven QDSR‐TENG opens a new paradigm for the application in energy harvesting and smart sensing.