The DOI matches its Crossref record; 58 of the 58 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Triboelectric nanogenerators as new energy technology and self-powered sensors – Principles, problems and perspectives
Abstract
Triboelectrification is one of the most common effects in our daily life, but it is usually taken as a negative effect with very limited positive applications. Here, we invented a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) based on organic materials that is used to convert mechanical energy into electricity. The TENG is based on the conjunction of triboelectrification and electrostatic induction, and it utilizes the most common materials available in our daily life, such as papers, fabrics, PTFE, PDMS, Al, PVC etc. In this short review, we first introduce the four most fundamental modes of TENG, based on which a range of applications have been demonstrated. The area power density reaches 1200 W m −2 , volume density reaches 490 kW m −3 , and an energy conversion efficiency of ∼50–85% has been demonstrated. The TENG can be applied to harvest all kinds of mechanical energy that is available in our daily life, such as human motion, walking, vibration, mechanical triggering, rotation energy, wind, a moving automobile, flowing water, rain drops, tide and ocean waves. Therefore, it is a new paradigm for energy harvesting. Furthermore, TENG can be a sensor that directly converts a mechanical triggering into a self-generated electric signal for detection of motion, vibration, mechanical stimuli, physical touching, and biological movement. After a summary of TENG for micro-scale energy harvesting, mega-scale energy harvesting, and self-powered systems, we will present a set of questions that need to be discussed and explored for applications of the TENG. Lastly, since the energy conversion efficiencies for each mode can be different although the materials are the same, depending on the triggering conditions and design geometry. But one common factor that determines the performance of all the TENGs is the charge density on the two surfaces, the saturation value of which may independent of the triggering configurations of the TENG. Therefore, the triboelectric charge density or the relative charge density in reference to a standard material (such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)) can be taken as a measuring matrix for characterizing the performance of the material for the TENG.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“The TENGs can be categorized into four fundamental working modes: [64,71] 1) vertical contact-separation mode, [72][73][74][75][76][77][78] 2) lateral-sliding mode, [79][80][81][82][83] 3) single-electrode mode, [84][85][86][87][88] and 4) freestanding triboelectric-layer mode [89,90]”
From Advances in Blue Energy Fuels: Harvesting Energy from Ocean for Self‐Powered Electrolysis (2025) · cites this paper as [64]
Citations
Cites
Flexible triboelectric generator
Fan, F.-R., Tian, Z.-Q., & Lin Wang, Z. (2012) · Nano Energy · doi:10.1016/j.nanoen.2012.01.004 · Cited by 6,705
Self-citationWang, Z. L. (2013) · ACS Nano · doi:10.1021/nn404614z · Cited by 3,124
Self-citationTheoretical study of contact-mode triboelectric nanogenerators as an effective power source
Niu, S., Wang, S., Lin, L., Liu, Y., Zhou, Y., Hu, Y., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · Energy & Environmental Science · doi:10.1039/c3ee42571a · Cited by 1,969
Self-citationWang, S., Lin, L., & Wang, Z. L. (2012) · Nano Letters · doi:10.1021/nl303573d · Cited by 1,308
Self-citationTriboelectric-Generator-Driven Pulse Electrodeposition for Micropatterning
Zhu, G., Pan, C., Guo, W., Chen, C., Zhou, Y., Yu, R., & Wang, Z. L. (2012) · Nano Letters · doi:10.1021/nl302560k · Cited by 1,065
Self-citationNanotechnology‐Enabled Energy Harvesting for Self‐Powered Micro‐/Nanosystems
Wang, Z. L., & Wu, W. (2012) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.201201656 · Cited by 1,063
Self-citationWang, S., Xie, Y., Niu, S., Lin, L., & Wang, Z. L. (2014) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.201305303 · Cited by 1,002
Self-citationLin, Z., Cheng, G., Lee, S., Pradel, K. C., & Wang, Z. L. (2014) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.201400373 · Cited by 859
Self-citationTheory of Sliding‐Mode Triboelectric Nanogenerators
Niu, S., Liu, Y., Wang, S., Lin, L., Zhou, Y., Hu, Y., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.201302808 · Cited by 833
Self-citationChen, J., Zhu, G., Yang, W., Jing, Q., Bai, P., Yang, Y. F., Hou, T., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.201302397 · Cited by 823
Self-citationSliding-Triboelectric Nanogenerators Based on In-Plane Charge-Separation Mechanism
Wang, S., Lin, L., Xie, Y., Jing, Q., Niu, S., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · Nano Letters · doi:10.1021/nl400738p · Cited by 804
Self-citationYang, Y., Zhang, H., Lin, Z.-H., Zhou, Y. S., Jing, Q., Su, Y., Yang, J., Chen, J., Hu, C., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · ACS Nano · doi:10.1021/nn403838y · Cited by 798
Self-citationNiu, S., Liu, Y., Wang, S., Lin, L., Zhou, Y., Hu, Y., & Wang, Z. L. (2014) · Advanced Functional Materials · doi:10.1002/adfm.201303799 · Cited by 738
Self-citationZhang, X., Han, M., Wang, R., Zhu, F.-Y., Li, Z., Wang, W., & Zhang, H. (2013) · Nano Letters · doi:10.1021/nl3045684 · Cited by 671
Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Harvesting Wind Energy and as Self-Powered Wind Vector Sensor System
Yang, Y. F., Zhu, G., Zhang, H., Chen, J., Zhong, X., Lin, Z., Su, Y., Bai, P., Wen, X., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · ACS Nano · doi:10.1021/nn4043157 · Cited by 649
Self-citationYang, Y. F., Zhang, H., Chen, J., Jing, Q., Zhou, Y., Wen, X., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · ACS Nano · doi:10.1021/nn403021m · Cited by 637
Self-citationFiber-Based Generator for Wearable Electronics and Mobile Medication
Zhong, J., Zhang, Y., Zhong, Q., Hu, Q., Hu, B., Wang, Z. L., & Zhou, J. (2014) · ACS Nano · doi:10.1021/nn501732z · Cited by 612
Self-citationZhang, C., Tang, W., Han, C., Fan, F. R., & Wang, Z. L. (2014) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.201400207 · Cited by 607
Self-citationZhu, G., Su, Y., Bai, P., Chen, J., Jing, Q., Yang, W., & Wang, Z. L. (2014) · ACS Nano · doi:10.1021/nn5012732 · Cited by 565
Self-citationHarvesting Energy from the Natural Vibration of Human Walking
Yang, W., Chen, J., Zhu, G., Yang, J., Bai, P., Su, Y., Jing, Q., Cao, X., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · ACS Nano · doi:10.1021/nn405175z · Cited by 517
Self-citationLinear-Grating Triboelectric Generator Based on Sliding Electrification
Zhu, G., Chen, J., Liu, Y., Bai, P., Zhou, Y., Jing, Q., Pan, C., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · Nano Letters · doi:10.1021/nl4008985 · Cited by 516
Self-citationHydrophobic Sponge Structure‐Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator
Lee, K. Y., Chun, J., Lee, J., Kim, K. N., Kang, N., Kim, J., Kim, M. H., Shin, K., Gupta, M. K., Baik, J. M., et al. (2014) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.201401184 · Cited by 514
Segmentally Structured Disk Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Harvesting Rotational Mechanical Energy
Lin, L., Wang, S., Xie, Y., Jing, Q., Niu, S., Hu, Y., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · Nano Letters · doi:10.1021/nl4013002 · Cited by 513
Self-citationWater–Solid Surface Contact Electrification and its Use for Harvesting Liquid‐Wave Energy
Lin, Z., Cheng, G., Lin, L., Lee, S., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.201307249 · Cited by 506
Self-citationYang, J., Chen, J., Liu, Y., Yang, W., Su, Y., & Wang, Z. L. (2014) · ACS Nano · doi:10.1021/nn4063616 · Cited by 488
Self-citationZhu, G., Zhou, Y., Bai, P., Meng, X. S., Jing, Q., Chen, J., & Wang, Z. L. (2014) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.201400021 · Cited by 487
Self-citationA transparent single-friction-surface triboelectric generator and self-powered touch sensor
Meng, B., Tang, W., Too, Z.-H., Zhang, X., Han, M., Liu, W., & Zhang, H. (2013) · Energy & Environmental Science · doi:10.1039/c3ee42311e · Cited by 419
A Single‐Electrode Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator as Self‐Powered Tracking System
Yang, Y. F., Zhou, Y., Zhang, H., Liu, Y., Lee, S., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.201302453 · Cited by 392
Self-citationWoven Structured Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Wearable Devices
Zhou, T., Zhang, C., Han, C. B., Fan, F. R., Tang, W., & Wang, Z. L. (2014) · ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces · doi:10.1021/am504110u · Cited by 376
Self-citationA Self‐Powered Triboelectric Nanosensor for Mercury Ion Detection
Lin, Z., Zhu, G., Zhou, Y., Yang, Y. F., Bai, P., Chen, J., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · Angewandte Chemie International Edition · doi:10.1002/anie.201300437 · Cited by 369
Self-citationBroadband Vibrational Energy Harvesting Based on a Triboelectric Nanogenerator
Yang, J., Chen, J., Yang, Y. F., Zhang, H., Yang, W., Bai, P., Su, Y., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · Advanced Energy Materials · doi:10.1002/aenm.201301322 · Cited by 350
Self-citationZhu, G., Bai, P., Chen, J., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · Nano Energy · doi:10.1016/j.nanoen.2013.08.002 · Cited by 335
Self-citationWang, Z. L. (2008) · Scientific American · doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0108-82 · Cited by 323
Self-citation3D Stack Integrated Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Harvesting Vibration Energy
Yang, W., Chen, J., Jing, Q., Yang, J., Wen, X., Su, Y., Zhu, G., Bai, P., & Wang, Z. L. (2014) · Advanced Functional Materials · doi:10.1002/adfm.201304211 · Cited by 305
Self-citationIn Situ Quantitative Study of Nanoscale Triboelectrification and Patterning
Zhou, Y., Liu, Y., Zhu, G., Lin, Z., Pan, C., Jing, Q., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · Nano Letters · doi:10.1021/nl401006x · Cited by 275
Self-citationA theoretical study of grating structured triboelectric nanogenerators
Niu, S., Wang, S., Liu, Y., Zhou, Y., Lin, L., Hu, Y., Pradel, K. C., & Wang, Z. L. (2014) · Energy & Environmental Science · doi:10.1039/c4ee00498a · Cited by 249
Self-citationHu, Y., Yang, J., Jing, Q., Niu, S., Wu, W., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · ACS Nano · doi:10.1021/nn405209u · Cited by 245
Self-citationManipulating Nanoscale Contact Electrification by an Applied Electric Field
Zhou, Y., Wang, S., Yang, Y. F., Zhu, G., Niu, S., Lin, Z., Liu, Y., & Wang, Z. L. (2014) · Nano Letters · doi:10.1021/nl404819w · Cited by 228
Self-citationHarvesting Broadband Kinetic Impact Energy from Mechanical Triggering/Vibration and Water Waves
Wen, X., Yang, W., Jing, Q., & Wang, Z. L. (2014) · ACS Nano · doi:10.1021/nn502618f · Cited by 226
Self-citationTriboelectrification Based Motion Sensor for Human-Machine Interfacing
Yang, W., Chen, J., Wen, X., Jing, Q., Yang, J., Su, Y., Zhu, G., Wu, W., & Wang, Z. L. (2014) · ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces · doi:10.1021/am500864t · Cited by 180
Self-citationA hybrid energy cell for self-powered water splitting
Yang, Y. F., Zhang, H., Lin, Z., Liu, Y., Chen, J., Lin, Z., Zhou, Y., Wong, C. P., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · Energy & Environmental Science · doi:10.1039/c3ee41485j · Cited by 178
Self-citationFully Enclosed Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Applications in Water and Harsh Environments
Yang, Y. F., Zhang, H., Liu, R.-Y., Wen, X., Hou, T., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · Advanced Energy Materials · doi:10.1002/aenm.201300376 · Cited by 168
Self-citationMotion Charged Battery as Sustainable Flexible-Power-Unit
Wang, S., Lin, Z., Niu, S., Lin, L., Xie, Y., Pradel, K. C., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · ACS Nano · doi:10.1021/nn4050408 · Cited by 162
Self-citationTriboelectric Sensor for Self-Powered Tracking of Object Motion inside Tubing
Su, Y., Zhu, G., Yang, W., Yang, J., Chen, J., Jing, Q., Wu, Z., Jiang, Y., & Wang, Z. L. (2014) · ACS Nano · doi:10.1021/nn500695q · Cited by 161
Self-citationHybrid Energy Cell for Degradation of Methyl Orange by Self-Powered Electrocatalytic Oxidation
Yang, Y. F., Zhang, H., Lee, S., Kim, D., Hwang, W., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · Nano Letters · doi:10.1021/nl3046188 · Cited by 153
Self-citationZhou, Y., Zhu, G., Niu, S., Liu, Y., Bai, P., Jing, Q., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.201304619 · Cited by 148
Self-citationYang, Y. F., Zhang, H., Chen, J., Lee, S., Hou, T., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · Energy & Environmental Science · doi:10.1039/c3ee40764k · Cited by 141
Self-citationYang, Y. F., Zhang, H., Zhong, X., Fang, Y., Yu, R., Zhang, Y., & Wang, Z. L. (2014) · ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces · doi:10.1021/am406018h · Cited by 127
Self-citationSelf-powered flexible printed circuit board with integrated triboelectric generator
Meng, B., Tang, W., Zhang, X., Han, M., Liu, W., & Zhang, H. (2013) · Nano Energy · doi:10.1016/j.nanoen.2013.08.006 · Cited by 115
Ito, D., Yokoyama, S., Zaikova, T. O., Masuko, K., & Hutchison, J. E. (2013) · ACS Nano · doi:10.1021/nn401888h · Cited by 111
Yu, A., Song, M., Zhang, Y., Zhang, Y., Chen, L., Zhai, J., & Wang, Z. L. (2014) · Nano Research · doi:10.1007/s12274-014-0559-z · Cited by 104
Self-citationHan, C. B., Zhang, C., Li, X. H., Zhang, L., Zhou, T., Hu, W., & Wang, Z. L. (2014) · Nano Energy · doi:10.1016/j.nanoen.2014.07.025 · Cited by 100
Self-citationTriboelectric Nanogenerators as a Self‐Powered Motion Tracking System
Chen, M., Li, X., Lin, L., Du, W., Han, X., Zhu, J., Pan, C., & Wang, Z. L. (2014) · Advanced Functional Materials · doi:10.1002/adfm.201400431 · Cited by 98
Self-citationJing, Q., Zhu, G., Wu, W., Bai, P., Xie, Y., Han, R. P. S., & Wang, Z. L. (2014) · Nano Energy · doi:10.1016/j.nanoen.2014.09.018 · Cited by 85
Self-citationFan, F. R., Tang, W., Yao, Y., Luo, J., Zhang, C., & Wang, Z. L. (2014) · Nanotechnology · doi:10.1088/0957-4484/25/13/135402 · Cited by 84
Self-citationFlexible hybrid cell for simultaneously harvesting thermal and mechanical energies
Lee, S., Bae, S., Lin, L., Ahn, S., Park, C. H., Kim, S., Cha, S. N., Park, Y. J., & Wang, Z. L. (2013) · Nano Energy · doi:10.1016/j.nanoen.2013.02.004 · Cited by 65
Self-citationMultimodal label-free detection and discrimination for small molecules using a nanoporous resonator
Park, J., Bang, D., Jang, K., Kim, E., Haam, S., & Na, S. (2014) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/ncomms4456 · Cited by 23
Nanogenerators: Transparent Flexible Graphene Triboelectric Nanogenerators (Adv. Mater. 23/2014)
Kim, S., Gupta, M. K., Lee, K. Y., Sohn, A., Kim, T. Y., Shin, K., Kim, D., Kim, S. K., Lee, K. H., Shin, H., et al. (2014) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.201470153 · Cited by 15
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Hu, 2013, ACS Nano, 7, 10424, 10.1021/nn405209u · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Progress in triboelectric nanogenerators as a new energy technology and self-powered sensors
Wang, Z. L., Chen, J., & Lin, L. (2015) · Energy & Environmental Science · doi:10.1039/c5ee01532d · Cited by 2,174
Self-citationOn Maxwell's displacement current for energy and sensors: the origin of nanogenerators
Wang, Z. L. (2017) · Materials Today · doi:10.1016/j.mattod.2016.12.001 · Cited by 2,095
Self-citationTriboelectric Nanogenerator: A Foundation of the Energy for the New Era
Wu, C., Wang, A. C., Ding, W., Guo, H., & Wang, Z. L. (2018) · Advanced Energy Materials · doi:10.1002/aenm.201802906 · Cited by 2,034
Self-citationFlexible Nanogenerators for Energy Harvesting and Self‐Powered Electronics
Fan, F. R., Tang, W., & Wang, Z. L. (2016) · Advanced Materials · doi:10.1002/adma.201504299 · Cited by 1,933
Self-citationBio-Integrated Wearable Systems: A Comprehensive Review
Ray, T. R., Choi, J., Bandodkar, A. J., Krishnan, S., Gutruf, P., Tian, L., Ghaffari, R., & Rogers, J. A. (2019) · Chemical Reviews · doi:10.1021/acs.chemrev.8b00573 · Cited by 1,350
Metadata
- Authors
- Wang, Z. L.
- Affiliations
- Georgia Institute of Technology (US)
- Corresponding author
- Wang, Zhong Lin
- ORCID
- Wang, Zhong Lin
- Venue
- Faraday Discuss.
- Publisher
- Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
- Published
- 2014
- Volume
- 176
- Pages
- 447-458
- ISSN
- 1359-6640 (ISSN-L)
- 1364-5498
- OpenAlex
- W2093018115
- Cited by
- 1,749
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 129 · 2025: 184 · 2024: 176 · 2023: 209 · 2022: 204 · 2021: 206 · 2020: 176 · 2019: 149 · 2018: 139 · 2017: 81 · 2016: 60 · 2015: 33 · 2014: 2
- FWCI
- 30.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Faraday Discussions (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Innovative Energy Harvesting Technologies
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanics of Materials › Tribology and Wear Analysis
- Keywords
- triboelectric nanogenerator, triboelectric energy harvesting, self-powered sensors, mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion, triboelectric charging, electrostatic induction, organic materials, charge density, vibration energy harvesting, human motion energy harvesting, energy conversion efficiency
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
