A New CAD Tool for Energy Optimization of Diagonal Motion Mode of Attached Electrode Triboelectric Nanogenerators

Triboelectrification effect was known since the ancient Greek time. A triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) was invented and is used to convert the mechanical energy to the electrical energy. The TENG is a promising candidate for the new transducers generation recommended for energy harvesting. It is used to harvest the mechanical energy with a great number of advantages. In this research, a new diagonal motion mode is proposed and is studied intensively in attached electrode mode using COMSOL finite element analysis. Diagonal motion mode offers a new degree of freedom which is the angle of motion allowing for further energy optimization. A new CAD tool is built based on semi-analytical equations derived from both COMSOL simulation results and theoretical framework. The tool optimizes the energy based on both the angle and the distance of motion in a few seconds which is very time efficient compared to the time consuming COMSOL simulations. The tool results show great consistency with the data obtained from time consuming COMSOL results.