Engraved pattern spacer triboelectric nanogenerators for mechanical energy harvesting

The emergence of triboelectric nanogenerators provides convenience for harvesting mechanical energy from the environment, and the contact-separation mode is one of the most basic operation modes of triboelectric nanogenerators. The preparation of the triboelectric nanogenerator of this mode usually requires the addition of third-party spacers or the overall deformation of its own substrate. Here, we propose an engraved patterned spacer triboelectric nanogenerator (EPS-TENG) to get rid of these unfavorable constraints. The spacers used by the EPS-TENG are made by engraving the substrate according to the designed and folded patterns. The engraved pattern spacers can be elastically deformed when subject to mechanical impact, and will automatically recover after the impact force is removed, which is perfectly adapted to external periodic mechanical impacts. The peak power of the device reached 92.34 μW, and 8.48 μW of average power could be achieved. The driving demonstration of the timer reveals that the EPS-TENG has great application prospects. The EPS-TENG with such excellent performance can not only contribute to the harvesting of mechanical energy in the environment, but also setting a useful reference for the research of engraved spacer triboelectric nanogenerators.