Hierarchical Honeycomb-Structured Electret/Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Biomechanical and Morphing Wing Energy Harvesting

Flexible,compact,lightweight and sustainable power sources are indispensable for modern wearable and personal electronics and small-unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs).Hierarchical honeycomb has the unique merits of compact mesostructures,excellent energy absorption properties and considerable weight to strength ratios.Herein,a honeycomb-inspired triboelectric nanogenerator(h-TENG)is proposed for biomechanical and UAV morphing wing energy harvesting based on contact triboelectrification wavy surface of cellular honeycomb structure.The wavy surface comprises a multilayered thin film structure(combining polyethylene terephthalate,silver nanowires and fluorinated ethylene propylene)fabricated through high-temperature thermoplastic molding and wafer-level bonding process.With superior synchronization of large amounts of energy generation units with honeycomb cells,the manufactured h-TENG prototype produces the maximum instantaneous open-circuit voltage,short-circuit current and output power of 1207 V,68.5μA and 12.4 mW,respectively,corresponding to a remarkable peak power density of 0.275 mW cm^(−3)(or 2.48 mW g^(−1))under hand pressing excitations.Attributed to the excellent elastic property of self-rebounding honeycomb structure,the flexible and transparent h-TENG can be easily pressed,bent and integrated into shoes for real-time insole plantar pressure mapping.The lightweight and compact h-TENG is further installed into a morphing wing of small UAVs for efficiently converting the flapping energy of ailerons into electricity for the first time.This research demonstrates this new conceptualizing single h-TENG device’s versatility and viability for broad-range real-world application scenarios.