A Torsion-Cycled Triboelectric Generator for Low-Frequency Motion

The design presented in this paper is a torsion-cycled triboelectric generator intended for harvesting energy from doors, hinges, and other slow moving structures for autonomous sensors. Its operating principle is that two dissimilar polymer surfaces are brought into contact and separated by a torsion-cycled frame, transferring charge at each contact and delivering pulses through an external load. The design is computed from stated assumptions throughout; it is simulated, not measured, and no prototype results are reported. The headline result is a average output power of 3.02 mW, obtained with contact frequency of 2 Hz with a computed efficiency or performance coefficient of 12 per cent where that measure applies, for a unit of mass 0.35 kg whose characteristic scale is a active area of 0.05 m^2. A parameter sweep reported in the Results section shows how the output moves when the principal variable is changed, and the density of the working material, 1.2e+03 kg per cubic metre, sits about 54.9 orders of magnitude below the neutron-carrier density bound of 9.72e+57 kg per cubic metre, so the bound enters this design as a sizing ceiling and a margin statement rather than as an operating condition. The limitations are stated plainly: surface charge decays in humid air and the films wear; output in service is expected to sit well below the dry laboratory design point. Status: SIMULATED, NOT MEASURED.