Generating electricity from human movements with adhesive tape

Scientists at the University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH) have developed a triboelectric nanogenerator (– TENG) from conventional adhesive tape. The TENG can generate electrical energy from human movements and thus drive biosensors, for example.

TENGs convert mechanical energy generated by friction or movement into electric current. The UAH researchers' TENG is essentially made of commercially available adhesive tape. The scientists use metallized polyethylene terephthalate films as electrodes and layers of Scotch tape to generate electricity.

Energy is generated by an interaction between the polypropylene and the acrylate adhesive layer, which is achieved by pressing and releasing the adhesive tape. Due to the van der Waals forces, gaps of atomic size form at the interface, as the researchers write in the study “Wide Bandwidth High-Power Triboelectric Energy Harvesting by Scotch Tape”, which has been published in ACS Omega.

Highest energy harvesting with double-sided Scotch tape

The design is such that energy is harvested via vibrations to which the triboelectric generator is exposed, for example when walking or running.

The researchers tried out different types of adhesive tape. The best result was achieved with double-sided adhesive tape. The separation and contact of the tape takes place exclusively on smooth surfaces, so that the adhesion of the sticky surface is such that it can also work at high frequencies of up to 300 Hz.

The TENG thus achieves a maximum output of 53 mW. This is not much, but it is enough to power around 350 LEDs or a laser pointer. The researchers also tested the energy generation system with a sensor for detecting sound waves and a biosensor for recognizing arm movements. The latter is intended to measure human muscle activation to prevent possible injuries and improve performance. Both sensors could be easily powered by the TENG.

The scientists emphasize that the key to this was achieving a higher operating frequency of 300 Hz. Normally, TENGs only operate at frequencies below 5 Hz, which leads to a lower energy yield.

Initially, however, the energy generated is only suitable for firing sensors that require little power. However, the researchers are already working on improving the design to enable further applications. If the TENG could generate more electricity, it could be used to charge batteries, for example. The scientists want to patent their TENG.

(olb)