Output current boosting in triboelectric nanogenerators for applications in self-powered energy systems

Abstract

Sustainable and portable power solutions are the dire need of wearable devices. To ensure the sustainable powering of smart electronics, a portable self-powered system has been developed. A multi-layer Nanogenerator is fabricated using the state of the art Nanofiber Technology. In this work, the authors have dedicatedly encountered one of the major issues regarding the larger output impedance of the nanogenerator that significantly produces poor electrical performance while sinking to the electronic loads. We have modeled and practically designed the intermediate stage of power converter circuitry. This specialized circuitry not only reduces the peak output voltage (>450 V) produced from nanogenerators to an acceptable limit (5–10 V) but also increases the output currents to a larger extent. In this way, a significant increase in the output currents from the nanogenerators can enhance the overall system performance. Also, we have rigorously mapped the output impedance of the nanogenerators and designed a specialized encounter mechanism by inserting tunable passive power electronic components into the overall power handling circuit. So, a specialized power-efficient circuit is designed and developed that could handle technology-independent nanogenerators with significantly larger output currents and have the capability to power 20+ LEDs in a single run.

Keywords

• Multi-layer TENG
• TENG simulation
• Passive power conditioning