Hybrid energy cell for simultaneously harvesting wind, solar, and chemical energies

Abstract

We report a hybrid energy cell that can simultaneously or individually harvest wind, solar, and chemical energies to power some electronic devices. By utilizing the wind driven relative rotations between a polytetrafluoroethylene film and an etched Al film attached on two acrylic tubes, the fabricated triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) can deliver an open-circuit voltage of about 90 V, a short-circuit current density of about 0.5 mA/m², and a maximum power density of 16 mW/m², which is capable of directly lighting up 20 blue light-emitting-diodes (LEDs). By integrating a TENG, a solar cell, and an electrochemical cell, a hybrid energy cell has been fabricated to simultaneously scavenge three different types of energies. As compared with the individual energy units, the hybrid energy cell exhibited much better performance in charging a capacitor. Moreover, we also demonstrated that the hybrid energies generated can be stored in a Li-ion battery for powering a commercial wind speed sensor and a temperature sensor. This work represents significant progress toward practical applications of hybrid energy cells, providing potential solutions for simultaneously scavenging wind, solar, and chemical energies.