Design and optimization of Miura-Origami-inspired structure for high-performance self-charging hybrid nanogenerator

Abstract

A hybrid piezoelectric-triboelectric-electromagnetic nanogenerator (HPTENG-EMG) has been designed meticulously by focusing on material selection, structural design, and performance evaluation. The module can operate using three parts; piezoelectric, triboelectric and an electromagnetic mechanism. The hybrid concept of triboelectric and piezoelectric is achieved by fabricating triboelectric-piezoelectric composite materials working through the TENG mechanism. In the material design part, the composite film between bacterial cellulose (BC) and BaTiO3 nanoparticles (BT-NPs) fabricates and optimizes its properties with a suitable number of BT-NPs. The unique Miura-Origami (MO) hexagonal multilayer shape is applied within the structural design to increase the contact surface area, which enhances the electrical output signal. The third part of the hybrid system incorporates an electromagnetic generator (EMG) by designing a structure of compact and lightweight cylindrical tubes with magnetic levitation structures. The hexagonal multilayer shape of MO composite TENG (MO-CTENG) generates an open-circuit output voltage (VOC) of ∼414 V and short-circuit output current (ISC) of ∼48.3 μA with maximum output power (P) of about ∼6.94 mW. The highest ISC value of ∼38 mA can be promoted in the optimized EMG, which is higher than the MO-CTENG by ∼786 times. The practical application of this technology is demonstrated by human shaking motion for battery charging in the wireless Global Positioning System (GPS). The maximum direct current output voltage (VDC) saturation of 30 V can be achieved within 19 s. This work provides a potential methodology for increasing electrical output performance by capturing more mechanical energy through the conjunction of three phenomena into a single device, which exhibits a promising way of addressing an energy crisis.