Spinout plans 140x boost for TENG nanogenerator
Researchers in the UK have developed a highly efficient, flexible nanogenerator with a 140-fold increase in power density.
The Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) at the University of Surrey say the miniaturisation of the elements of a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) could pave the way for nano-devices that are as efficient as today’s solar cells.
The device has an architecture that can combine the charge generated by 34 nanogenerators in series, and the researchers plan to launch a startup company based on the energy harvesting technology.
“We are soon going to launch a company focused on self-powered, non-invasive healthcare sensors using triboelectric technology. Innovations like these will enable us to drive new spin-out activities in sustainable health tech, improve sensitivity, and emphasize industrial scalability,” said Dr Bhaskar Dudem, Research Fellow at ATI.
“The dream of nanogenerators is to capture and use energy from everyday movements, mechanical vibrations, ocean waves or opening a door. The key innovation with our nanogenerator is that we’ve fine-tuned the technology with 34 tiny energy collectors using a laser technique that can be scaled up for manufacture to increase energy efficiency further.”
The charge regeneration effect is at the heart of the interdigitated array of freestanding TENG (IDA-FTENG) design. A record 34 ITO electrode pairs were built on a PET sheet measuring 6×4.7 cm2 (shown above) shows a pathway for developing flexible pressure sensors. This showed 140 times increased power density due to the high charge regeneration effect. An IDAF-TENG with 204 electrodes pairs would have a power density comparable to the efficiency of the solar cells.
“We are incredibly excited about the potential of these nanogenerators to transform how we think about energy. You could also imagine these devices being used in IoT-based self-powered smart systems like autonomous wireless operations, security monitoring, and smart home systems, or even for supporting dementia patients,” said Professor Ravi Silva, Director, Advanced Technology Institute (ATI) and Head of the NanoElectronics Centre.
“What’s really exciting is that our little device with high energy harvesting density could one day rival the power of solar panels and could be used to run anything from self-powered sensors to smart home systems that run without ever needing a battery change,” said Md Delowar Hussain, Postgraduate Research Student.
The study on the IDA-FTENG device is published in Nano Energy.
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