Model of electric charge distribution in the trap of a close-contact TENG system

Abstract Electron propagation in a trapped state between an insulator and a metal during very close contact in a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) system was considered in this study. A single energy level ( E 0 ) was assumed for the trap and wave function inside the trap, which is related to the ground state energy. The phase of the waveform in the metal (neglecting the rebound effect at the wall) was assumed very small ( δ′ ≪ 1) because of the large size of the metal. The contact distance between the trap and metal is very small, which allows us to ignore the vacuum potential. Based on our results, the probability of finding an electron inside the trap as a function of time was found to be in oscillation ( i.e ., back-and-forth propagation of the electron between the trap and metal leads to an equilibrium state). These results can be used to understand the quantum mechanisms of continuous contact, particularly in sliding-mode TENG systems.