Triboelectric–Thermoelectric Hybrid Nanogenerator for Harvesting Energy from Ambient Environments

Recently developed triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) with advantages of a low fabrication cost, high output voltage, and high energy conversion efficiency have shown potential applications in harvesting ambient environment energy. However, the heat energy produced and wasted during the triboelectric energy generation process limits the output of TENG. One approach is to design TENG based on a noncontact mode to minimize the energy loss. The other approach is to scavenge the lost energy with a supplementary nanogenerator. In this work, triboelectric–thermoelectric hybrid nanogenerator (TTENG) is fabricated to harvest the energy from ambient environment and the thermal energy from the temperature difference induced by r-TENG friction. At a rotation rate of 500 rpm, r-TENG can produce a constant open-circuit voltage (V_oc) of 200 V and a short-circuit current (I_sc) of 0.06 mA. The thermoelectric nanogenerator (TMENG) with a size of 16 cm² can produce a V_oc of 0.2 V and an I_sc of 20 mA. The experimental results show that the TTENG is a promising method to harvest the ambient mechanical energy.