Polyvinyl alcohol-based Economical Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Self-powered Energy Harvesting Applications.

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have emerged as a promising alternative for powering small-scale electronics without relying on traditional power sources, and play an important role in the development of the Internet of Things (IoTs). Herein, a low-cost, flexible polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based TENG (PVA-TENG) is reported to harvest low-frequency mechanical vibrations and convert them into electricity. PVA thin film is prepared by a simple solution casting technique and utilized to serve as the tribo-positive material, polypropylene (PP) film as tribonegative, and aluminum (Al) foil as electrodes of the device. The dielectric-dielectric model is implemented with an arch structure for the effective working of the PVA-TENG. The device showed promising electrical output such as open-circuit voltage (VOC), short-circuit current (ISC), and power by using hand-tapping energy. Also, PVA-TENG is subjected to a stability test by operating the device continuously for 5000 cycles. The result shows that the device is mechanically durable and electrically stable. Further, the as-fabricated PVA-TENG is demonstrated to show feasible applications, such as charging two commercial capacitors with capacitances 1.1 and 4.7 μF, and powering green light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The stored energy in the 4.7 μF capacitor is utilized to power the humidity and temperature sensor without the aid of an external battery. Thus, the PVA-TENG facilitates ease of fabrication, robustness, and cost-effective strategy in the field of energy harvesting for powering lower-grid electronics by demonstrating their potential as a sustainable energy source.