A self-powered, portable disinfection system based on a triboelectric nanogenerator

Abstract Infectious diseases caused by bacteria in air and drinking water have resulted in a huge threat to human health. Here, a self-powered, portable disinfection system based on a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is proposed for air and drinking water. In the system, a UV lamp can be directly powered by TENG due to the high voltage of up to 2500 V and then emits UV rays to break the DNA nucleic acid chains. The output of TENG and the effects of designed parameters on the irradiance are studied systematically. Finally, the disinfection performance for air and drinking water is studied through the system prototype experiments and the results demonstrate that the time needed for complete disinfection (> 6-log) of air and drinking water is 7 min and 11 min. Overall, the proposed system independent of the power grid reveals an excellent disinfection performance and is a potential technology for alleviating air and drinking water safety issues.