A Water‐Driven Triboelectric Generator for Electrocatalytic Wastewater Treatment

Abstract Triboelectric generators (TEGs) have been shown to be advantageous at energy harvesting for sensors and portable devices. Here, a water‐driven triboelectric generator (WD‐TEG) powered wastewater treatment reactor that harvests energy from the water flow via the triboelectric effect is introduced. The WD‐TEG is an efficient and green approach towards wastewater treatment. With the electricity generated from WD‐TEG, a degradation efficiency of up to 80 % for estrogenic pollutants, estriol, and 17‐β estradiol is achieved within just 150 min. The effect of water rotation on degradation rate is also investigated. The observed results show that triboelectric coupled electrochemical systems can be promising solution for wastewater treatment.