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As an emerging high-efficiency energy conversion device, improving the output of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) is still a key method to promote practical application of TENGs. This paper systematically investigated the influence of component composition, thickness, and surface morphology of the metal conducting layer on the performance of triboelectric nanogenerators. It has been established that these three factors have a significant influence on the output performance of TENGs. Among the four common metals Au, Pt, Ag, and Cu, the triboelectric nanogenerator achieves its maximum output when utilizing Ag as the conducting layer, with optimal performance observed at a thickness of 278 nm. TENGs with nanostructured conducting layers have better output as the nanostructure amplifies the induction charging area, thereby effectively augmenting the performance of TENGs. In particular, when contrasted with a triboelectric nanogenerator utilizing copper foil as the conducting layer alongside poly(vinylidene difluoride) and Nylon-11 as friction layers in the common work, the short-circuit current of the triboelectric nanogenerator increased by 2.3 times, and the maximum short-circuit current reached 149 μA when the conducting layer was replaced with Ag, and the enhanced triboelectric nanogenerator successfully illuminated 1536 commercial LEDs. In addition, the TENG-based smart insoles combined with pedometers can realize signal sensing and the real-time recording of steps during exercise. This research provides a new simple and reliable method to further improve the output of the TENG.

As modern industry evolves, powder technology has become widely used across numerous sectors. However, such extensive utilization has augmented the risk of dust explosions due to electrostatic charges during the production processes. The tiny size of dust particles, along with their tendency to gather static electricity during transportation in pipelines, poses a significant challenge for both observation and analysis. Furthermore, the electrostatic charging mechanisms of dust particles are still not well understood, highlighting the urgent need to clarify how electrification occurs to effectively mitigate electrostatic issues with dust. In this paper, a continuous gas-solid two-phase flow triboelectric nanogenerator (GS-TENG) has been developed to explore the generation mechanism of triboelectrification when flour-air two-phase flow collides with pipeline wall. Furthermore, to comprehensively analyze the relationship between flour movement in the pipeline under the influence of airflow and frictional electric signals, high-speed cameras were employed to record flour motion throughout the process. The findings indicate that flour-air two-phase flow exhibits unidirectional frictional electric signals after friction within PTFE pipelines. The findings reveal that the flow of flour driven by airflow through PTFE pipes produces frictional charges, leading to the formation of charged clusters. Upon contact with a grounded copper mesh, electric current peaks of up to 150 μA can be observed. Since the frictional charges carried by flour primarily originate from wall friction, coating the inner walls of pipelines with silicon-modified acrylic resin significantly reduces the frictional charges carried by flour, effectively suppressing static electricity accumulation and discharge phenomena, thus enhancing the safety of dust transportation. This study offers novel strategies for harnessing frictional electricity in gas-solid two-phase flows and mitigating electrostatics.

Static electricity accumulated on fabrics often causes discharged discomfort, fire, explosion, and cardiovascular diseases. Meanwhile, the electricity can be harvested and used for self-powered wearable devices. Therefore, it is essential to regulate fabric triboelectricity through studying the relationship between friction coefficients and triboelectric charges. In this paper, a reciprocating tribometer coupled with triboelectric testing instruments is designed to collect in-situtribological and triboelectric properties for laterally sliding fabric based triboelectric nanogenerators (F-TENGs). In this case, the regulation factors involve motion conditions (including load, frequency, friction angle, etc.), surface components and environments. The results show that faster sliding speed and lower humidity produce higher triboelectric outputs of F-TENGs. Especially, amino groups modified silk shows an extremely strong electron-donating ability and achieves a high triboelectric current of 382.2 nA when paired with polyimide, which is enhanced by 1.67 times compared with silk. Most importantly, the friction coefficient values of F-TENGs show almost the same trend as the triboelectric outputs. Based on this, a sensing system for monitoring comfort level of fabrics is successfully designed through rubbing tested fabrics and observing indicator lamps. This work proposes a tribological approach with valuable insights of the underlying mechanism of triboelectric charging and extended applications.