Research update: Generating electricity from tacky tape

Zaps of static electricity might be a wintertime annoyance, but to certain scientists, they represent an untapped source of energy. Using a device called a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), mechanical energy can be converted into electrical energy using triboelectric effect static. Many TENGs contain expensive, specially fabricated materials, but one team has instead used inexpensive store-bought tape, plastic and aluminum metal. The researchers report an improved version of their tape-based TENG in ACS Omega. 

The research team, led by Gang Wang and Moon-Hyung Jang, previously stacked layers of a store-bought double-sided tape, plastic film and aluminum metal to form an effective, low-cost TENG. When the layers of tape were pressed together and pulled apart, a small amount of electricity was generated. But the tape’s stickiness proved problematic, requiring a lot of force to detach the layers. 

For the new and improved TENG, researchers replaced the double-sided tape with layers of thicker, heavy-duty single-sided tape. Unlike the old version, power is generated by the interaction between the polypropylene backing of the tape and the acrylic adhesive layer. The smooth surfaces can easily stick and unstick from one another, enabling the TENG to be rapidly connected and disconnected, thereby generating even more power in a shorter amount of time than before. Researchers accomplished this by placing the TENG atop a vibrational plate that bounced the tape layers apart, generating electricity as they came into contact and separated repeatedly.

In tests, the new device produced a maximum power of 53 milliwatts. Additionally, it created enough power to light more than 350 LED lights as well as a laser pointer. The team also incorporated the tape TENG into two sensors: a self-powered, wearable biosensor for detecting arm movements and an acoustic sensor for sound waves. 

This study demonstrates the utility of a low-cost TENG that performs well, and the researchers hope the device’s applications can expand into power generation and self-powered sensors.

The authors acknowledge funding from the Charger Innovation Fund from the University of Alabama at Huntsville. 

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