Research on performance of solid-liquid triboelectric nanogenerators based on anti-rolling tank

In this article, we present an anti-rolling tank solid-liquid triboelectric nanogenerators (ART-SL-TENGs) harvesting dissipated kinetic energy from the ocean in ship stabilizer to tackle the electric energy replenishment problem. The harvester mainly consists of several L-damping plates and U-tank equipped with TENGs. This paper investigates the dynamic processes of water within the tank and the potential distribution of TENGs using parameterized modeling, simulations, and experiments. The effects of external excitation, tank's initial water level, and TENG layout on the performance of ART-SL-TENGs are analyzed. During the roll motion of the tank, the water hits the outer side wall and rebounds towards the inner side wall upon collision. Due to a larger water-TENG contact area, the outer side wall generates more charges transfer than the inner side wall, resulting in a higher open-circuit voltage and a higher power. Under low-frequency excitation, the dynamic processes of water make it easier to have sufficient contact with the TENGs, exchange charges, and generate a higher voltage. The results show that the harvester generates maximum average output voltage of about 39.26 V and instantaneous power 6.49 μW under the excitation of 0.7 Hz and 90 mm amplitude at 30 mm initial water level. The ART-SL-TENGs take into account both anti-rolling characteristics and the electric energy replenishment, providing significantly a reference for the design of self-powered marine equipment in ship stabilizer.