Dipteran flight-inspired bistable triboelectric nanogenerator for harvesting low frequency vibration

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is a new type of self-powered equipment which can collect vibration energy in the environment. However, using traditional linear float technology is difficult to achieve the low frequency vibration energy harvesting of broadband. In order to solve the problem of the bandwidth limitation the output of TENG, dipteran flight-inspired bistable triboelectric nanogenerator (DFIB-TENG) was proposed in this paper, which was inspired by the flying mechanism of the double wing. The effects of excitation frequency, amplitude and the link length on the energy harvesting of the DFIB-TENG are studied. The results show that the DFIB-TENG has high output in the wide range of 3–7 Hz. The DFIB-TENG has the maximum energy output in the excitation frequency of 6 Hz, the excitation amplitude is 40 mm and the link length is 65.0 mm. The short circuit current of the DFIB-TENG is 12.17 μA, and the output voltage is 1108 V, the output power is 1.25 mW. The DFIB-TENG can drive 50 led lights or feed the electronic watch when working. The dynamic model of the DFIB-TENG was established by the Euler-Lagrange equation, and the dynamic response was analyzed by numerical analysis. The numerical simulation results are consistent with the experimental results, and the correctness of the completion results is verified. The DFIB-TENG can be used to harvest low frequency bridge vibration energy, providing electricity for its health monitoring and sensing network.