US 12,463,559 B2
Switchable power generation in triboelectric nanogenerators
Dongmyeong Shin, West Kowloon (CN); Jiaming Zhou, Hong Kong (CN); Eunjong Kim, Hong Kong (CN); Xiaoting Ma, Hong Kong (CN); and Jingyi Gao, Hong Kong (CN)
Assigned to THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG, Hong Kong (CN)
Filed by THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG, Hong Kong (CN)
Filed on Mar. 24, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/126,026.
Prior Publication US 2024/0322711 A1, Sep. 26, 2024
Int. Cl. H02N 1/04 (2006.01)
CPC H02N 1/04 (2013.01) 11 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A switchable triboelectric nanogenerator (s-TENG) which obtains energy by utilizing the electrostatic potential between water droplets and frictional surfaces, comprising:
a device including an ITO film substrate as an electrode, a molded SU-8 grid located on the ITO film substrate and forming an array of air gaps as an air breakdown region and an FEP film on the molded SU-8 grid as the surface of the friction layer; and
means for variably positioning the device at a distance from and at an angle to a water source so that water droplets from the water source contact the friction layer, so that direct current is obtained without the use of a rectifier due to electrostatic induction causing breakdown in the air breakdown region of the molded SU-8 grid.