Advances and prospects of triboelectric nanogenerator for self-powered system

ABSTRACT Self-powered technology is a novel power supply technology. In recent years, self-powered intelligent products have attracted much interests. Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) can convert mechanical energy into electrical energy by contact and relative motion, thus providing the possibility of self-powering for electronic equipments. However, TENG-based self-powered technologies are limited by low power output and poor conversion efficiency. In this review, we present the development of TENG-based self-powered systems, with the emphasis on the output power of TENG and how to improve it. Based on the above applications, we propose the idea of TENG-driven self-powered remote robots, providing promising scenarios of small remote robots for land rescue or underwater detection. Due to the limited power output of the current TENGs, there are still some difficulties in driving the robot. Aiming at the problems of low power supply and poor conversion efficiency, we introduce the current attempts to improve the power generation efficiency from the perspectives of mechanical structure, electrode materials and auxiliary tools. We also outline the applications of TENGs as power supply systems in various fields such as sensing, wearable devices, and collecting Marine energy. Finally, we forecast the development prospect of TENG. Graphical abstract