Flexible Triboelectric Nanogenerator Arrays for Energy Harvesting and Direct Current Output via Solid‐Liquid‐Gas Interfaces Involving Liquid Metals

Abstract Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) efficiently convert mechanical energy into electricity, offering unique advantages for powering wearable electronics. Key objectives for wearable TENGs include flexibility, and high power density output. Liquid metals (LMs) are emerging as a category of functional materials with both metallic and liquid properties at room temperature, which opens up broader opportunities for TENG applications. Herein, a concept is proposed for constructing a fully flexible triboelectric nanogenerator array for mechanical energy harvesting by using LMs. The LMs layers are embedded in a porous polytetrafluoroethylene (p‐PTFE) film, resulting in a series of parallel friction interface arrays. The strong electronegativity of PTFE and the high electronic activity of liquid metals are explored, and the interface at the solid‐liquid‐gas three‐phase junction is constructed to facilitate the energy conversion. Using mechanical triggering, the direct current pulse is generated and amplified at the solid‐liquid interface, resulting in an open‐circuit voltage ( V oc ) of 1080 V and a power density (P max ) of 12.44 W m − 2 . Furthermore, V oc generated by the device in the contact‐separation mode amounted to 1690 V under ultrasonic (40 kHz) excitation. Consequently, this finding is anticipated to offer new opportunities in applications such as flexible electronics, mechanical energy conversion, and human‐machine interaction interfaces.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Functional Materials
Published
2025-06-19
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202510233
Citations
9
Primary Topic
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
6.07
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article

Flexible Triboelectric Nanogenerator Arrays for Energy Harvesting and Direct Current Output via Solid‐Liquid‐Gas Interfaces Involving Liquid Metals

Wen Yang, Yunbo Zhang, Peizhi Yang, Liangfei Duan et al.
9 citations
Advanced Functional Materials
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
6.07
article

Flexible Triboelectric Nanogenerator Arrays for Energy Harvesting and Direct Current Output via Solid‐Liquid‐Gas Interfaces Involving Liquid Metals

Wen Yang, Yunbo Zhang, Peizhi Yang, Liangfei Duan, Jiangtao Guo, Zhong Lin Wang, Qin Wang, Yong Zhang, Xiyun Feng
article en
9 citations

Abstract

Abstract Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) efficiently convert mechanical energy into electricity, offering unique advantages for powering wearable electronics. Key objectives for wearable TENGs include flexibility, and high power density output. Liquid metals (LMs) are emerging as a category of functional materials with both metallic and liquid properties at room temperature, which opens up broader opportunities for TENG applications. Herein, a concept is proposed for constructing a fully flexible triboelectric nanogenerator array for mechanical energy harvesting by using LMs. The LMs layers are embedded in a porous polytetrafluoroethylene (p‐PTFE) film, resulting in a series of parallel friction interface arrays. The strong electronegativity of PTFE and the high electronic activity of liquid metals are explored, and the interface at the solid‐liquid‐gas three‐phase junction is constructed to facilitate the energy conversion. Using mechanical triggering, the direct current pulse is generated and amplified at the solid‐liquid interface, resulting in an open‐circuit voltage ( V oc ) of 1080 V and a power density (P max ) of 12.44 W m − 2 . Furthermore, V oc generated by the device in the contact‐separation mode amounted to 1690 V under ultrasonic (40 kHz) excitation. Consequently, this finding is anticipated to offer new opportunities in applications such as flexible electronics, mechanical energy conversion, and human‐machine interaction interfaces.

Advanced Functional MaterialsVol. 35(49)
University of North Carolina at Charlotte (US), Yunnan Normal University (CN), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems (CN)
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
6.07
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