High durable bio-inspired self-cleaning solid-liquid contact triboelectric nanogenerator for water wave energy harvesting

Despite many advances have been made, challenges for the solid-liquid contact triboelectric nanogenerators (S-L TENGs) harvesting water wave energy, such as low average power density, poor long-term stability, and insufficient flexibility, are still need to overcome. A bio-inspired self-cleaning solid-liquid contact triboelectric nanogenerator (BSC-TENG) is proposed as a highly adaptive mean of water wave energy harvester. Benefiting from the surface superhydrophobic micro-nano structure, a high stable net surface charge density is obtained, which significantly enhances the output performance and stability of the BSC-TENG. Under salt water waves, the flexible BSC-TENG exhibits desirable output performance with the stable output current of 24.8 µA, output voltage of 1380 V, and average power density of 306 W m⁻³. Furthermore, after energy storage, the BSC-TENG is demonstrated to successfully power wireless sensors for meteorological monitoring of temperature, humidity, sunshine and other environmental parameters for harvesting salt water wave energy. The self-cleaning ability of the BSC-TENG makes it suitable for long-term stability in complex water environments, which significantly extends the service life of the TENGs and promises practical applications in real circumstances.