TRIBOELECTRIC DEVICES FOR POWER GENERATION AND SELF-POWERED SENSING APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Triboelectric effect, a phenomenon well known to scientists for past several decades, usually has negative connotations attached to it due to its undesired effect in electronics and manufacturing. However recently, triboelectric effect combined with electrostatic induction has been demonstrated for applications in mechanical energy harvesting and sensing. The aim of the thesis is to conceptualize and fabricate devices for practical applications in mechanical energy harvesting and self-powered sensors. Firstly, an extensive study was conducted to understand the effect of surface topographies on the performance of triboelectric nanogenerators. Furthermore, triboelectric mechanism was used to design and fabricate biomechanical energy harvesters and self-powered sensor using human skin as an active triboelectric layer for wearable applications. A self-powered tactile sensor was designed for bi-directional sensing. Also, roll-to-roll processes were used to fabricate large size triboelectric mechanism based devices in order to demonstrate their viability for commercial large volume manufacturing.