Performance comparison between dual cantilevered and touch based hybridized triboelectric harvesters

Abstract

The demand for energy harvesting technologies has been increasing over the years attributed to its significance to low power applications. One of the key problems associated with the vibration-based harvester is the fact that these harvesters generate low usable power while maximum peak power can only be attained when the device frequency matches the source frequency. In this study, triboelectric mechanism was investigated in combination with the piezoelectric mechanism in order to enhance the performance of the harvester. Triboelectric mechanism functions in a way that two dissimilar materials were placed in contact and then separated in order to generate surface charges and electric potential between them. Main design factors such as materials, surface area, structure, effective length, and etc. play a significant part in the enhancement of the performance. This study proposed two distinct designs of dual cantilevered structure and touch-based triboelectric energy harvester and evaluated the efficiency of the output between both structures. In addition, the effect of extension and surface area of triboelectric materials was investigated while the influence of these factors on the performance of the harvester was evaluated. The highest value of peak power obtained for dual cantilevered hybrid harvester was 650 µW across a load of 160 kΩ and frequency of 26 Hz. On the other hand, touch-based energy harvester produced an output peak power of 1220 µW across a load of 400 kΩ at 25 Hz. Achieving these power outputs may be able to power up electronics such as smartwatches, hearing aid and etc. Future studies on reliable low power applications to further advance the green power technology will be investigated.

Keywords

• vibration
• triboelectric
• piezoelectric
• hybridized
• cantilevered