MMTENG · A Micromotor-driven Triboelectric Nanogenerator with different Propulsion mechanisms

The triboelectric effect is always considered a negative phenomenon in daily life, and this perception was altered when the first triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) was proposed in 2012 as a new energy source. To date, the TENGs are well developed by thousands of researchers across the world, utilizing human activities, water waves, wind, and rain drops. However, there is still a gap between triboelectricity and other energy sources, for example, chemical energy and light. Inspired from natural immunocytes, artificial micromotors (MMs) referred to microscale particles capable of converting different energy sources into kinetic energy were well developed since 2004. The objective of this project is to apply MMs in TENG design (MMTENG) as an alternative strategy for electricity generation, which is expected to build up a bridge between other energy sources and electric energy through triboelectricity. The project will focus on i) the fabrication of the dielectric MM and the motion analysis under required circumstances with different propulsion mechanism; ii) the assembly of a freestanding TENG with metal electrodes and electrifiable polymer membrane; iii) the measurement of the triboelectricity converted from different energy sources.This interdisciplinary project will be supported by i) a world-renowned expert in micro/nanomachines and electrochemistry, Prof. Martin Pumera, as the host, and the facilities at Central European Institute of Technology; ii) colleagues specialized in electrochemistry and triboelectricity; iii) excellent trainings for both scientific skills and soft skills, workshops, and seminars, together with the researcher’s own experiences in MMs.In research aspect, it is always of great importance to develop new energy sources. In career aspect, with the international working environment and the inspiring research topics in the interdisciplinary field, this project will be a boost to the researcher's future academic career.