Abstract
Sliding-mode triboelectric nanogenerator (S-TENG) is based on the coupling of triboelectrification and electrostatic induction, converting electrical energy from sliding motion. Introducing micro-textures into the sliding surface, and adjusting the angle between the texture and sliding direction (direction angle) may achieve performance anisotropy, which provides novel ideas for optimizing the tribology and electrification performance of S-TENG. To guide the performance optimization based on the anisotropy, in this paper, groove micro-textures were fabricated on the surface of S-TENG, and anisotropic tribology and electrification performance were obtained through changing the direction angle. Based on the surface analysis and after-cleaning tests, the mechanism of the anisotropy was explained. It is shown that the anisotropy of friction coefficient can be attributed to the changes of texture edge induced resistance and groove captured wear debris, while the voltage anisotropy is due to the variations of debris accumulated on the sliding interface and the resulting charge neutralization. Among the selected 0°–90° direction angles, S-TENG at angle of 90° exhibits relatively small stable friction coefficient and high open-circuit voltage, and thus it is recommended for the performance optimization. The open-circuit voltage is not directly associated with the friction coefficient, but closely related to the wear debris accumulated on the sliding interface. This study presents a simple and convenient method to optimize the performance of S-TENG, and help understand the correlation between its tribology and electrical performance.
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Acknowledgements
This work is financially supported by Beijing Natural Science Foundation (No.3224065), GuangDong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (No. 2021A1515110351) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51975042).
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Weixu YANG. She is currently an associate professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at University of Science and Technology Beijing, China. She received her B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Chang’an University, China, in 2013, and the Ph.D. degree from Beijing Institute of Technology, China, in 2019. Her research interests include microscale adhesive contact mechanics and surface micro/nano textures design in triboelectric nanogenerator.
Jieyang WANG. He is currently a M.S. student in the School of Mechanical Engineering at University of Science and Technology Beijing, China. He received his B.S. degree in Tangshan University, China, in 2020. His research interests include surface micro/nano textures fabrication, material modifications, and the performance of sliding-mode triboelectric nanogenerator.
Xiaoli WANG. She received the B.S. and M.S. degrees from Hefei University of Technology, China, in 1987 and 1990, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree from Tsinghua University, China, in 1999. She is currently a professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Beijing Institute of Technology, China. Her research is in the area of Power MEMS tribology, adhesive contact mechanics and microbearing-rotor system dynamics. She is the Member of Tribology Committee of Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society, and was the recipient of the 2005 New Century Excellent Talents in University of Ministry of Education of China and the 2017 Beijing Natural Science Foundation Award.
Ping CHEN. She is currently a professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at University of Science and Technology Beijing, China. She received her B.S. degree in mechanical design and theory form Hunan University of Science and Technology, China, in 1995, M.S. degree from Henan Polytechnic University, China, in 2002, and Ph.D. degree from China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), China, in 2008. Her research is in the area of tribology of composite materials. She is a member of China Graphics Society.
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Yang, W., Wang, J., Wang, X. et al. Anisotropic tribology and electrification properties of sliding-mode triboelectric nanogenerator with groove textures. Friction (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-024-0861-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40544-024-0861-z