Mechanical energy harvesting system based on hybrid nanogenerators

​Grant funding 2022-2024
Ministry of Education and Sciences

The project goal is to prepare a high-performance hybrid nanogenerator based on piezoelectric and triboelectric phenomena for mechanical energy harvesting from the surrounding environment. This goal will be achieved by modulation and improving the device's piezoelectric and triboelectric properties.

The use of traditional energy storage devices for power supply, such as batteries and capacitors, in the plethora of portable devices and sensors is accompanied by the problem of constantly recharging or replacing them. In the past several years, nanogenerators have gained significant attention from the leading research organizations as a novel approach to harvest mechanical energy from mechanical vibrations and generate electricity to operate microelectronic devices. Recently reported works have illustrated the feasibility of combining the triboelectric and piezoelectric effects for mechanical-energy harvesting in one integrated system by designing different components of the hybrid device with enhanced piezoelectric and triboelectric effects. For example, hybrid nanogenerators (HNGs) can generate electricity from mechanical energy either by individual piezoelectric and triboelectric effects or by combining the two effects. Moreover, the hybridization of piezoelectric nanogenerator (PENG) with triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) into a single platform does not need any complex device structure.

The expected result will be the development of an efficient hybrid nanogenerator with high output power that converts the energy of mechanical movements, such as elastic deformation and vibration, into electrical energy. By improving the performance of such nanogenerator devices to harvest mechanical energy from the ambient environment, we can advance the field of personal and wearable electronics, self-charging systems for medical devices, sensors and IoT. Successful completion of planned research will undoubted-ly improve the level of competition of Kazakhstan in scientific research and technological innovation.