Butterfly‐Inspired Triboelectric Nanogenerators with Spring‐Assisted Linkage Structure for Water Wave Energy Harvesting

Abstract

Abstract The exploration of water wave energy to generate electric power is a promising and valuable way to solve global energy crisis. Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are considered as one of the most promising approaches for harvesting water wave energy. Here, a butterfly‐inspired triboelectric nanogenerator (B‐TENG) with spring‐assisted four‐bar linkage is fabricated to acquire multidirectional water wave energy from different types of movements generated by the device. The arc‐shaped outer shell can efficiently absorb the impact force of water wave and inner spring‐assisted four‐bar linkage can induce multiple contact–separation motion of TENG module, both of which allow the B‐TENG to harvest energy from different types of low‐frequency waves. The short‐circuit current and open‐circuit voltage of this B‐TENG device can reach 75.35 µA and 707.01 V, while a maximum output power density of 9.559 W m −3 can be achieved and 180 light‐emitting diodes can be directly lightened up by this B‐TENG. The energy generated from this B‐TENG can also be stored in a capacitor and to drive some marine sensor devices, such as an electronic thermometer. This proposed B‐TENG device is specially designed for multidirectional water energy harvesting and it may have good application prospects for ocean information monitoring and power supply to oceanic islands.