Sustainable high-voltage source based on triboelectric nanogenerator with a charge accumulation strategy

The application of TENGs as a controllable high-voltage power source is one of the four major research directions of TENGs. However, there are still many high-voltage applications beyond the driving capability of TENGs mainly due to the insufficient sustainability of tribo-induced charges. Here, we have proposed a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) with a charge accumulation strategy to provide a sustainable ultrahigh output voltage, which is enough to drive almost all the possible high-voltage applications of TENGs. More than 8000 LEDs can be continuously illuminated using this TENG device and the calculated output voltage from this device can reach over 20 kV, updating a new record for the TENG devices. The ultrahigh voltage from this TENG can trigger continuous electrophoresis (EP) and dielectrophoresis (DEP) effects in oil, achieving a self-powered oil purification system. The suspended impurities, including both conductive and dielectric particles, in 50 ml oil can be removed by this system within 100 seconds. This work offers a different purification system for the current oil recycling industry with a simple design and zero power consumption. Meanwhile, two kinds of typical high-voltage devices, a dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) and electrospinning system, can be directly driven by this SH-TENG with a rather low rotation speed, while no power source or amplifying circuit is needed. All of these demonstrations verify that this new type of TENG can provide some practical applications in many fields such as electrostatic manipulation and air pollution treatment.