Single-Electrode Triboelectric Nanogenerator

Recently, I've been interested in finding alternative energy sources to help power my creations, and I stumbled upon triboelectricity--the energy that is generated from the transfer of electrical charge between two objects in contact. To recreate this effect, I used a layer of aluminum (an electron donor), along with a layer of fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), an effective acceptor. When mechanical energy is applied and the two layers are pressed against each other, a charge is generated that we can measure using a multimeter. The electrode simply functions to collect and move the charges to create an electric current.

Although the nanogenerator I made in this project is quite small and generates minimal energy, when I tested the same project with a larger (12x12) board, due to having a larger surface area it was able to generate significantly more voltage, and can power LEDs as well.

Materials

**The aluminum and FEP are effective electron donors and receptors, respectively, and are on opposite sides of the triboelectric series (shown above). If you do not have one/both of the materials, you can replace them with another material on the same side of the series (i.e. you can replace aluminum tape for copper tape, as they are both electron donors). Materials on the extreme sides of the series work best.**

1. aluminum tape
2. fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) sheet
3. small plastic board
4. wire
5. tape

Tools:

1. multimeter
2. wire stripper
3. scissors

Cut your FEP sheet into a small rectangle. Then, making sure any protective film has been removed from the FEP, stick the aluminum tape on one side so it covers the entire rectangle evenly. Make sure there are no air pockets between the two materials, and cut off any excess tape.

Making sure the aluminum layer is facing up, use a small piece of aluminum tape to secure one end of the wire to the middle of the rectangle. Then, flip the sheet over so the FEP layer is facing up, and the aluminum layer is on the bottom. Attach your base to the aluminum layer, using tape to secure the connection.

Cut out a small 'comb' shape from aluminum tape, like the one pictured above. Use the vertical end of the 'comb' to attach a wire to the FEP side.

Now, if you connect the electrode wire to the negative end of your multimeter and the wire from the aluminum side to the positive end of the multimeter, you can measure a charge when you press the material. To take it a step further, I placed my generator in a small tub and sprayed it with water to measure the electrical output, which was about half a volt. I also tested it out in the rainfall, where a similar voltage was produced.