Charge Trapping‐Based Electricity Generator (CTEG): An Ultrarobust and High Efficiency Nanogenerator for Energy Harvesting from Water Droplets

Abstract

Strategies toward harvesting energy from water movements are proposed in recent years. Reverse electrowetting allows high efficiency energy generation, but requires external electric field. Triboelectric nanogenerators, as passive energy harvesting devices, are limited by the unstable and low density of tribo‐charges. Here, a charge trapping‐based electricity generator (CTEG) is proposed for passive energy harvesting from water droplets with high efficiency. The hydrophobic fluoropolymer films utilized in CTEG are pre‐charged by a homogeneous electrowetting‐assisted charge injection (h‐EWCI) method, allowing an ultrahigh negative charge density of 1.8 mC m−2. By utilizing a dedicated designed circuit to connect the bottom electrode and top electrode of a Pt wire, instantaneous currents beyond 2 mA, power density above 160 W m−2, and energy harvesting efficiency over 11% are achieved from continuously falling water droplets. CTEG devices show excellent robustness for energy harvesting from water drops, without appreciable degradation for intermittent testing during 100 days. These results exceed previously reported values by far. The approach is not only applicable for energy harvesting from water droplets or wave‐like oscillatory fluid motion, but also opens up avenues toward other applications requiring passive electric responses, such as diverse sensors and wearable devices.