Recently, Prof. Cheng Guanggui and Prof. Ding Jianning’s research team from School of Mechanical Engineering of Jiangsu University (JSU) in cooperation with Researcher Zhang Chi’s team of the Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Systems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, published a paper entitled A Power-Managed Tribovoltaic Nanogenerator and Self-Powered Wireless Temperature Monitoring System in Advanced Energy Materials, the top journal in the field of energy materials. Doctoral student Cao Jie of JSU is the first author. Prof. Cheng Guanggui, Prof. Ding Jianning and Researcher Zhang Chi are the co-corresponding authors.

A study indicates that about 1/3 of the energy in global industrial systems is consumed through friction. The newly found tribovolatic effect is a semiconductor effect used for electromechanical power conversion. Tribovoltaic nanogenerator (TVNG) generates direct-current output through friction at semiconductor interface. It has shown great advantage in recycling industrial friction energy owing to its optimized friction pair and higher power-density.

Utilizing electricity converted from mechanical energy recycling to power self-powered sensors is an effective way to achieve self-driven sensing. Therefore, developing a power management strategy for TVNG based on its output characteristic exhibits great potential to promote the development of Industrial Internet of Things.

This research proposes an effective power management strategy for TVNG with high output voltage. By applying a high-voltage-resistant diode between TVNG and transition capacitor, the energy backflow is effectively suppressed. Through the combination of the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) and the buck converter, an autonomous power management unit (PMU) was designed.

Experiments showed that PMU realizes effective regulation of output voltage and current of TVNG.  After management, the internal impedance of TVNG with PMU decreases by ten times and the charging speed of capacitor increases by 7.18 times compared to those before management. Moreover, based on the TVNG with PMU,100 LEDs and six parallel thermos-hygrometers have been demonstrated to be continuously driven.

This work proposes an effective power management strategy for TVNG with high output voltage, which exhibits great potential to promote the development of self-powered sensors and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).