Interfacial Inner‐Local‐Enhanced Discharge Induced by Aligned Needle Electrodes for the Synergistic Collection of Tribo‐Charges

ABSTRACT A corona‐discharge triboelectric nanogenerator (CD‐TENG) couples triboelectrification with air discharge to harvest mechanical energy. However, electrostatic energy in conventional structures is not fully extracted because of inner charge locking and discharge at the triboelectric interface (tribo‐interface). Herein, we propose a charge‐extraction strategy by designing an inner‐aligned needle‐electrode TENG (INE‐TENG) to extract electrostatic energy simultaneously from the side and inner regions of the tribo‐interface. Through systematic analysis of discharge fluorescence and electrical output under different operating modes, we elucidated the synergistic charge‐collection mechanism. Compared with the side‐electrode‐only configuration with the inner electrode disconnected, the synergistic operation transferred an additional 1.73 µC to the external circuit, as inferred from mode‐switching electrical measurements. At a 2.0 GΩ load, the INE‐TENG yielded an output energy of 15.7 mJ, 4.02 times that of the side‐electrode‐only configuration with the inner electrode grounded (3.91 mJ), exceeding the sum of the individual side and inner electrode outputs. A high output energy density of 2.61 J m − 2 per cycle was achieved using the basic structural unit. This study clarifies interfacial electrostatic energy loss pathways in CD‐TENGs and demonstrates an electrode‐architecture‐based approach to improving energy extraction through synergistic charge collection from the side and inner regions of the tribo‐interface.