Triboelectric Nanogenerator For Collecting Mechanical Energy Of Raindrops And Its Optimization

Raindrop energy,which exists in small and discrete form,is widely distributed in nature.If it can be collected and utilized,it will be expected to provide more convenience for the use of many existing portable electronic devices,independent sensor networks and so on.Because of its flexible structure design,convenient manufacture and easy to collect micro mechanical energy,triboelectric nanogenerators can realize the effective collection of mechanical energy carried by raindrops.In this paper,based on the characteristics of raindrops carrying energy,the substrate material and device structure of triboelectric nanogenerator are chosen by mechanical analysis,and the way to improve the performance of triboelectric nanogenerator is explored.Finally,a triboelectric nanogenerator is designed and manufactured,which can collect the mechanical energy of raindrops efficiently.We chose nitrile rubber with good elasticity and air tightness as the upper substrate to accept raindrop impact in order to ensure the waterproof of triboelectric nanogenerator.The whole device was designed as a single electrode structure.Driven by 0.137 mL/s·cm~2 water flow,the open-circuit voltage of the device can reach 140 V and the short-circuit current density can reach 39?A/m~2.When there is 300 M?load in the external circuit,the maximum output power density of the device can reach 46?W/m~2.From the point of view of mechanics,the structure of the device was analyzed,and the experiment of exploring the optimal device parameters was carried out.The results showed that the device with side length of 30 mm,and air gap of 0.9 mm is the most beneficial to the collection of raindrop mechanical energy.On this basis,we rasterized the triboelectric nanogenerator,which not only ensures the optimal efficiency of the device,but also increases the effective collection area.The maximum open circuit voltage of the device can reach 400 V,the maximum short circuit current density can reach 2.5 mA/m~2,and the output power density can reach 110 mW/m~2.It is 1.28 times of the maximum output power density of the contact separated triboelectric nanogenerator which collects the mechanical energy of raindrops in the existing literature.In addition,the device has the ability to work for a long time,and can be used as an energy supply device to achieve metal corrosion protection.