Climate Insider Brief:
- Researchers led by Dai, Yin, and Yan improved wave energy harvesting efficiency by optimising electrode placement in liquid-solid TENGs, detailed in a report in ACS Energy Letters.
- Moving electrodes from the centre to the tube’s end, where water impact is stronger, boosted energy conversion efficiency in TENGs by 2.4 times compared to traditional setups.
- This advance, supported by Chinese funding, showcases scalable wave energy harvesting potential for powering LEDs and enabling wireless underwater communication.
Efforts to harness wave energy for renewable power generation have been ongoing, albeit with challenges such as limited energy output. Recently, a team of researchers led by Guozhang Dai, Kai Yin, and Junliang Yan has made progress in addressing this issue through a refined method of wave energy harvesting.
Their work, detailed in a report published in American Chemical Society’s Energy Letters, focuses on optimising the placement of the energy-collecting electrode within liquid–solid triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), devices designed to convert mechanical energy from wave motion into electricity.
Traditionally, TENGs have featured electrodes positioned at the centre of the device. However, the researchers found that relocating the electrode to the end of the tube, where water impacts with greater force, significantly improved energy harvesting efficiency.
To validate their findings, the researchers conducted experiments using 16-inch clear plastic tubes to construct two TENGs. One adhered to conventional design principles, with the electrode placed at the centre, while the other utilised the optimised configuration with the electrode positioned at one end of the tube. Both devices were filled with water and subjected to mechanical agitation.
The results demonstrated a notable increase in energy conversion efficiency for the optimised TENG, achieving a 2.4-fold improvement over the conventional design. This enhancement was attributed to heightened friction generated by water impacting or sliding against the electrode at the tube’s end.
In practical demonstrations, the researchers showcased the device’s ability to power an array of LEDs in response to water flow within the tube. This underscores the potential for scalable energy harvesting from ocean waves and highlights applications such as wireless underwater signalling communications.
The research was made possible through funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National Key Research and Development Program of China. Additionally, support from the High Performance Computing Center of Central South University facilitated computational aspects of the study.
In conclusion, the optimization of liquid–solid TENGs represents a step forward in improving wave energy harvesting efficiency. By refining electrode placement, researchers have advanced the feasibility of utilising ocean waves as a sustainable energy source, with implications for renewable power generation and underwater communication technologies.
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