Enhancing the Output Performance of Triboelectric Nanogenerator Based on Soft-Contact Coaxial Double-Rotation Structure

As a promising energy technology, triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has attracted wide attention in various fields. The rotating structure-based TENG exhibits superior output performance and energy conversion efficiency. However, further improvement is required in terms of output performance, and the issue of serious friction and wear between the materials in the friction layer needs to be addressed. In this work, A coaxial double-rotation soft-contact material based TENG (DR-TENG) with low wear and high output characteristics is fabricated. The introduction of soft-contact material reduces the frictional resistance and material wear, and the design and optimization of double-rotation structures further enhance the output performance of TENG. The output current of DR-TENG using rabbit furs as friction material can reach 144 µA after rectification. The experimental results show that DR-TENG exhibits good power supply ability. The output of DR-TENG can be used to power commercial electronic devices after being stored by capacitance. The DR-TENG is successfully applied for cathodic protection. The results show that the open-circuit potential of Q235 carbon steel can be reduced by 500 mV, which has a remarkable anti-corrosion effect. It is proved in the results that the TENG has a broad application prospect in metal corrosion protection.