Triboelectric Nanogenerator versus Piezoelectric Generator at Low Frequency (<4 Hz): A Quantitative Comparison
Abdelsalam Ahmed,
Islam Hassan,
Ahmed S. Helal,
Vitor Sencadas,
Ali Radhi,
Chang Kyu Jeong,
Maher F. El-Kady
Affiliations
Abdelsalam Ahmed
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; Division of Gastroenterology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; Corresponding author
Islam Hassan
Department of Mechanical Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
Ahmed S. Helal
Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
Vitor Sencadas
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA; School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2500, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2500, Australia
Ali Radhi
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
Chang Kyu Jeong
Division of Advanced Materials Engineering, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Jeonbuk 54896, Republic of Korea; Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Research Center, Jeonbuk National University, Jeonju, Jeonbuk 54896, Republic of Korea
Maher F. El-Kady
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Loss Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Summary: Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) and piezoelectric generators (PGs) are generally considered the two most common approaches for harvesting ambient mechanical energy that is ubiquitous in our everyday life. The main difference between the two generators lies in their respective working frequency range. Despite the remarkable progress, there has been no quantitative studies on the operating frequency band of the two generators at frequency values below 4 Hz, typical of human motion. Here, the two generators are systematically compared based on their energy harvesting capabilities below 4 Hz. Unlike PGs, the TENG demonstrates higher power performance and is almost independent of the operating frequency, making it highly efficient for multi-frequency operation. In addition, PGs were shown to be inapplicable for charging capacitors when a rectifier was attached to the system. The results of this work reveal the tremendous potential of flexible TENGs for harvesting energy at low frequency.
