Photovoltaic-triboelectric hybridized nanogenerator for simultaneously scavenging light and liquid-droplet energies

Hybridized nanogenerator has made breakthroughs in multiple types of energy scavenging, however, introduction of new materials that make hybridized structure more simplified and environmentally friendly is needed further research. Here, we developed a hybridized nanogenerator composed of photovoltaic cell (PVC) and triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), which can scavenge both light and liquid-droplet energies. In this device, the PVC share bottom electrode with the TENG. The device exhibits good hybridized process, generating peak current and peak voltage of 16.96 μA and 0.83 V, by scavenging light and liquid-droplet energies simultaneously. The hybridized output show that the maximum hybridized peak power was determined by the peak power of TENG who exhibited pulselike output, while the maximum hybridized output energy was much more affected by the output energy of PVC who generated continuous signals. This work enables the simultaneously scavenging light and liquid-droplet energies through individual device, which will open up unexplored avenues for simultaneously scavenging liquid-droplet energy and other types of energies.