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Dipole-moment-induced effect on contact electrification for triboelectric nanogenerators

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Abstract

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have been demonstrated as an effective way to harvest mechanical energy to drive small electronics. The density of triboelectric charges generated on contact surfaces between two distinct materials is a critical factor for dictating the output power. We demonstrate an approach to effectively tune the triboelectric properties of materials by taking advantage of the dipole moment in polarized polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), leading to substantial enhancement of the output power density of the TENG. The output voltage ranged from 72 V to 215 V under a constant contact force of 50 N. This work not only provides a new method of enhancing output power of TENGs, but also offers an insight into charge transfer in contact electrification by investigating dipole-moment-induced effects on the electrical output of TENGs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, 30332-0245, USA

    Peng Bai, Guang Zhu, Yu Sheng Zhou, Sihong Wang & Zhong Lin Wang

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Peng Bai, Jusheng Ma & Gong Zhang

  3. Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Zhong Lin Wang

Authors
  1. Peng Bai
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  2. Guang Zhu
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  3. Yu Sheng Zhou
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  4. Sihong Wang
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  5. Jusheng Ma
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  6. Gong Zhang
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  7. Zhong Lin Wang
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Correspondence to Zhong Lin Wang.

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Bai, P., Zhu, G., Zhou, Y.S. et al. Dipole-moment-induced effect on contact electrification for triboelectric nanogenerators. Nano Res. 7, 990–997 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-014-0461-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-014-0461-8

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