Reviving Vibration Energy Harvesting and Self-Powered Sensing by a Triboelectric Nanogenerator

Context & ScaleWith the threat of global warming and energy crises, searching for renewable energy resources with reduced carbon emissions is one of the most urgent challenges to sustainable development of human civilization. Vibration, as a type of common mechanical motion, ubiquitously exists in people's daily life in a variety of forms and wide range of scales. Over decades it has been an attractive target for energy harvesting, toward which various working mechanisms and designs have been developed.Relying on a coupling effect of contact electrification and electrostatic induction, in the past 5 years, the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has been applied as a fundamentally new technology to revive the field of vibration energy harvesting/sensing. The demonstrated instantaneous energy conversion efficiency of ∼70% and a total efficiency of 85% distinguish TENG from traditional techniques in this aspect. In this article, both TENG-enabled vibration energy harvesting and self-powered active sensing are comprehensively reviewed. Toward future field advancement, problems pressing for solutions and onward research directions are also discussed to deliver a coherent picture.SummaryVibration energy harvesting and sensing is a traditional and growing research field in which various working mechanisms and designs have been developed for an improved performance. Relying on a coupling effect of contact electrification and electrostatic induction, in the past 5 years, triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has been applied as a fundamentally new technology to revive the field of vibration energy harvesting and self-powered sensing, especially for low-frequency vibrations such as human motion, automobile, machine, and bridge vibrations. The demonstrated instantaneous energy conversion efficiency of ∼70% and a total efficiency up to 85% distinguished TENG from traditional techniques. In this article, both TENG-enabled vibration energy harvesting and self-powered active sensing are comprehensively reviewed. Moving toward future development, problems pressing for solutions and onward research directions are also posed to deliver a coherent picture.Graphical abstract