(Invited) Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Self-Powering Small Electronics

Recently autonomous smart systems met a large success. Especially, the internet of things is a key driving force for the development of wireless, sustainable and independent smart systems. Therefore, their autonomy is critical and despite the progresses in low power electronics and battery, it is not enough and energy harvesters are becoming increasingly important. For this, harvesting mechanical energy is essential as it is widespread and abundant in our daily life environment. Among harvesters, flexible triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) have good performances and are easy to integrate which make it the perfect candidate for many applications, and so crucial to develop. In this presentation, I first briefly introduce the fundamentals of TENGs, including the four basic operation modes. Then I discuss the different improvement parameters. I will also address some progresses made in terms of performances and integration which have been realized through the understanding of each operation mode and the development of innovative structures. Finally I present the last trends, structures and materials in view of better performances and applications.