Electrical energy generation using fish scale of Rohu fish by harvesting human motion mechanical energy for self powered battery-less devices

A green electrical energy source is suggested in this study to reduce carbon emissions for application in wearable flexible smart sensors/electronics/medical devices. Fish scales of Rohu fish are used to produce electricity by designing and fabricating triboelectric nanogenerators which need only human motion instead of a battery to produce electricity for self powered sensors and IoT devices. These fish scales are available in abundance in a fish market as a waste material globally. These scales are transparent, flexible, non-toxic, biodegradable, biocompatible, and cheaper (free of cost) material. A very simple design, fabrication, and operation technique is proposed in this study. The various characterization techniques SEM, EDX, FTIR, and XRD are performed on the fish scale because triboelectricity generation depends upon the material composition and surface morphology. The SEM results show a distinct surface pattern of the scale which is helpful for triboelectric charge generation. The EDX shows the basic elemental composition in which Carbon, Nitrogen, and Oxygen are dominant. Further, the FTIR spectrum shows the presence of different bio proteins including keratin, collagens, chitin, etc. Thermogravimetric analysis shows that a fish scale-based fabricated device is capable of working under 2000 C. A comparative analysis of the triboelectric performance of fish scale with other already reported biomaterials eggshell membrane, dog hair, and Bombax ceiba tree cotton is also presented in this study along with highly tribonegative material PTFE. The results of this study help to estimate the position of the novel fish scale material in the triboelectric series. The electrical output of this fish scale-based device is used to light up 90 commercial green LEDs which is equivalent to 180 V. The current of value 1.7 µA has been measured across the 1 MΩ resistor. To present the potential application of the fabricated device, a digital calculator is Switch ON using electricity produced from the fish scale based device.