基于液体金属的高性能摩擦纳米发电机的研究

Harvesting energy from the ambient environment is of significant importance for portable electronics, implanted devices and the internet of things. Recently, the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is demonstrated to be a hot research subject for its high power output. This project will propose a new type of TENG based on the liquid metal instead of solid metal, which changes the conventional solid-solid contact to liquid-solid contact: first, we will investigate the mechanism of the electrons’ separation between the liquid metal and dielectric materials; next, the output performance, including the output voltage and current, based on the friction between the single-layer dielectric material and liquid metal will be examined, and then key model parameters will be obtained to establish the TENG’s model equation; furthermore, high-performance liquid-metal-based TENG will be developed. In total, the liquid-metal-based TENG in this project, changes solid-solid contact into liquid-solid contact, featuring in larger contacting surface and lower friction coefficient, which are promising to further enhance the TENG’s charge density and conversion efficiency. This project will definitely supplement to the TENG’s basic principle, promote this technology further, and found the base for the energy harvesting technology’s applications in mico/nano energy supply and self-powered internet of things.

环境能量采集对于便携式电子、植入式器件和物联网系统都具有极其重要的意义。近年来，摩擦纳米发电机以其高输出功率迅速成为能量采集领域的研究热点。本项目将以液体金属替代传统摩擦纳米发电机的固体金属作为摩擦材料，把固固接触优化为液固接触，发展出摩擦纳米发电机的新模式：首先研究液体金属与固体介质材料间的摩擦起电机制；然后基于单层平面介质材料与液体金属的摩擦，研究液体金属摩擦纳米发电机的电压、电流输出，并提取关键参数，建立液体金属摩擦纳米发电机的模型方程；在此基础上，进一步研发高性能高输出的液体金属摩擦纳米发电机。本项目研发的发电机，将传统的固固接触转变为液固接触，具有大接触面积和低摩擦系数等优点，有望实现高电荷密度和高转化效率的突破。项目的研究成果将进一步丰富摩擦纳米发电技术的基础理论，对推动这项技术的发展和成熟起到积极促进作用，为能量采集技术在微纳能源供给、自供能物联网系统中的应用奠定基础。

本项目深入探索了液体金属与固体介质材料间的摩擦起电机制，首次提出了基于液体金属的摩擦纳米发电技术，并提取决定发电机输出性能的关键参数，包括介电材料材料种类、厚度、气体氛围等，建立了基于液体金属的纳米发电机的输出模型，并成功制备了高性能的液体金属摩擦纳米发电机，发电机的电荷密度高达400 uC/m2，能量转化效率 > 70%，可实现对环境中动能和微振动等的高效采集，除此之外，本项目还利用液体与固体的相互作用，研发了自驱动的微流控监测系统和海洋波浪监测系统，为能量采集技术在微纳能源供给、自供能物联网系统中的应用奠定了坚实的基础。