Progressive contact-separate triboelectric nanogenerator based on conductive polyurethane foam regulated with a Bennet doubler conditioning circuit

This paper for the first time proposed a progressive triboelectric nanogenerator based on macro-triangle-prism-shaped conductive polyurethane (PU) foam and PTFE film, which occupy the top and bottom spots of the triboelectric table respectively. The proposed macro-structured conductive PU foam also integrates the functions of spring, spacer and electrode. Thanks to the innovative structures and chosen of the materials, an extended current peak width is obtained. By regulating the TENG with a Bennet doubler conditioning circuit, the ubiquitous voltage saturation phenomenon when charging a storage capacitor using full-wave rectifiers is avoided. Moreover, the energy per cycle, charging efficiency and totally stored energy can be exponentially pumped up.258