Polydimethylsiloxane-Zinc Oxide Nanorod-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Compression Applications

In this study, to enhance the output performance of a contact-separation mode triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), a zinc oxide nanorod (ZnO NR) film with piezoelectric properties was integrated into a Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film as the dielectric layer. The working mechanism of the PDMS-ZnO NR-based TENG was theoretically analyzed in two stages: charge transfer during contact electrification on the material surface and charge movement in the electrostatic induction process. The output characteristics of the PDMS-ZnO NR-based TENG were investigated and compared with those of a PDMS-based TENG. The experimental results demonstrate that the PDMS-ZnO NR-based TENG reached an open-circuit voltage of 39.34 V, representing an increase of 64.5% compared to the PDMS-based TENG. The maximum output power of a 4 cm × 4 cm PDMS-ZnO NR-based TENG reached 82.2 μW. Using a specially designed energy-harvesting circuit, the generated electrical energy was stored in a capacitor, which was charged to 1.47 V within 1 min and reached 3 V in just 2.78 min. This voltage was sufficient to power over 20 LEDs and small sensors. Additionally, the TENG was integrated into the sole of footwear, where the electrical signals generated by compression could be utilized for step counting and gait analysis.