Exploring new energy sources is a practical choice for improving the energy and economic structure. The triboelectric nanogenerator (TENGs), as a new power-generation technology, convert mechanical energy harvested from the environment to electricity. The surface charge density and the output impedance of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are two critical factors for TENGs to speed up their commercialization. Researchers from College of Optoelectronic Engineering, Chongqing University, in close collaboration with Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, now report a novel approach to effectively boost the output performance of TENG while reducing the output impedance of TENGs by utilizing grating‐electrode‐enabled surface plasmon excitation.

The research group, led by Prof. Xiaojing Mu, Prof. Ya Yang and Prof. Zhonglin Wang, systematically studied the influence of light intensity, wavelength and microstructure size on the performance of the TENGs. The hot electron–hole pairs decayed from the surface plasmon resonance could effectively enhance the output of the TENG while reduce its output impedance, giving over 4.5‐fold enhancement in output power (3.6 mW) and 75% reduction in output impedance compared with the TENG with the aluminum foil of no grating line.

For more information about this research, see “Enhancing The Output Performance Of Triboelectric Nanogenerator Via Grating-Electrode Enabled Surface Plasmon Excitation", Lingxiao Gao, Xin Chen, Shan Lu, Hong Zhou, Weibo Xie, Junfei Chen, Mengke Qi, Hua Yu, Xiaojing Mu*, Zhong Lin Wang, and Ya Yang, Advanced Energy Materials, 1902725, (2019) , https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201902725