A Novel Design Based on Mechanical Time‐Delay Switch and Charge Space Accumulation for High Output Performance Direct‐Current Triboelectric Nanogenerator

Abstract Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), which converts mechanical energy into electrical energy, has become a promising environment energy harvesting technology. However, traditional TENG, based on the coupling of contact electrification and electrostatic induction, generates alternating current (AC) directly, which requires a rectifier to obtain direct current (DC) before being used to drive electronics. There are a few methods to obtain DC output including mechanical rectifier, phase coupling, air breakdown, and Schottky contact. But to achieve high output and high durability of DC‐TENG, new exploration is desired. In this study, a novel DC‐TENG is proposed, which greatly improves the output performance by designing a mechanical time‐delay switch and an alternative blank‐tribo‐area. The working mechanism of the DC‐TENG is analyzed theoretically and verified by experiments. It is found that the blank‐tribo‐area promotes charge accumulation, while the mechanical time‐delay switch realizes DC output. This DC‐TENG can light up 1888 LEDs in series at 60 rpm and drive 24 hygro‐thermographs in parallel with 120 rpm. The ultra‐high average power density of 4.2 W m −2 is achieved, much higher than previous works. The DC‐TENG displays high durability and retains 92% initial output after 120 000 cycles. This st provides a feasible strategy to boost the output performance of DC‐TENG.