Further Development in Triboelectric Energy Harvesting for Microsensors or Nanosensors and Microintruments for Use On-Site

Sensors and micro-instruments that can be used for measurements on-site are required primarily due to applications regarding the Internet of Things (IoT), or Industry 4.0, and to a lesser extend for the need to “bring part of the lab to the sample” (e.g., for analytical or chemical measurements in the field). Ideally, for field sensors and instruments they must be operated from energy harvested from the ambient (instead of using a battery). One example is by employing Tribo Electric Nano Generators (TENGs). In my lab, we have been working on TENGS for a number of years, continued work and further developments TENGS will be described here.