Simple and highly efficient intermittent operation circuit for triboelectric nanogenerator toward wearable electronic applications

Abstract Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is a promising power source toward the realization of self-powered wearable electronics. However, because of its pulsed output, a power management circuit, such as an intermittent operation circuit and AC–DC converter, is required to drive electronic devices. In this study, we propose a simple and highly efficient intermittent operation circuit composed of a programmable unijunction transistor. The energy transfer efficiency from the storage capacitor to the load reached 89%. We demonstrated that the intermittent circuit can be used to drive electronic devices such as stopwatches and wristwatches using the electricity generated by a carbon-nanotube-based stretchable TENG.