Design and development of a horizontal contact separated (HCS) test setup for measuring the performance of triboelectric nanogenerator for sustainable energy harvesting applications

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) can play a pivotal role in harnessing non-utilized reciprocating motion and convert it into electrical energy that can later be stored in a battery or capacitor to power various Internet of Things-based smart electronic and wearable devices. Herein, we designed a cost-effective instrumental test bed focused on investigating the output performance of a horizontal contact separation mode triboelectric nanogenerator by varying the input parameters, such as applied force, motor speed, triboplate separation, and frequency of instrumental setup. The test bed mainly consists of three major parts: (i) application of force, (ii) tapping of TENG sample, and (iii) output parameters measurement. The output performance in terms of open circuit output voltage (VOC), short circuit current (ISC), and power density of polydimethylsiloxane-based TENG was monitored and optimized by varying the input parameters. A low-cost current measuring circuitry using an operational amplifier integrated circuit has been proposed with 92% accuracy. The maximum value of VOC and ISC was observed to be 254 V and 31.8 µA at a motor speed of 600 rpm, the distance between both the plates was 6 mm, the input applied force of 40 N, and the striking frequency of 3 Hz. The maximum power density of 2.1 W/m2 was obtained at an input impedance of 8 kΩ. The durability of the test bed as well as the TENG sample was also measured for 25 h. The degree of uncertainty was measured for VOC, ISC, and applied force and calculated to be 1.62%, 7.45%, and 6.27%, respectively.