The influence of in-plane electrodes on TENG's output and its application in the field of IoT intelligent sensing

It is essential to improve the applicability of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) in the Internet of Things (IoTs). The electrodes of traditional TENGs are all located on the backside of the friction surface, which greatly limits the combination of TENGs and IoTs terminals. The integration of traditional TENGs with IoTs is usually divided into embedding and pasting. Embedded integration increases the cost of manufacturing intelligent terminals. Stick-on attachment increases the risk of damage to TENGs. Therefore, an in-plane electrode TENG (IPE-TENG) is designed and fabricated to improve its applicability in the Internet of Things era. In this structure, the electrode and dielectric are in the same plane, which effectively reduces the integration cost and the risk of damage. Unlike conventional TENGs, this structure works by generating electricity based on the variation of the perpendicular and transverse electric fields of the dielectric and electrodes. Based on this working principle, edge effects in IPE-TENG are explored. The charge output is increased from 6.23nC to 19.16nC by optimizing the electrode area, electrode side length and equivalent distance. In addition, the effect of the electrodes on the output performance of IPE-TENG is also revealed by the capacitance model. Finally, an IPE-TENG integrated cup is designed to remind people to drink water. This work not only establishes a transverse induction-based TENG structure, providing a new idea for the study of TENG edge effect, but also provides a strategy for optimizing TENG output performance by using electrodes, and finally proves the feasibility of this structure in practical integrated devices in the era of the Internet of Things.