Publications

Abstract 2D displacement sensor (2DDS) is significant in precision manufacturing positioning, machine condition monitoring, robotic manipulation, and human–computer interaction system. However, the reported 2DDSs have severe limitations, such as low accuracy, poor decoupling, and lack of smart signal analysis. Herein, a self‐decoupled and high‐resolution 2DDS based on two freestanding triboelectric nanogenerators (F‐TENGs) is presented. This sensor achieves self‐decoupling by two orthogonal and independent 1D displacement sensors with low‐cost grating‐structured PCB. The test results of the sensor exhibit a high accuracy ≥99.06% (1D) and 98.94% (2D). Also, the experimental and simulation results demonstrate that this sensor has a high resolution of 200 µm and the function of initial position identification. A 2D displacement sensing system is developed that is capable of collecting F‐TENGs’ open‐circuit voltages in real‐time and performing 2D trajectory synthesis and display. This work expands the potential application of the TENG‐based 2DDS in robotic precision machining.

A universal method for triboelectric nanogenerator is provided to obtain a constant-voltage output rather than a pulse-voltage output, simultaneously solving the key problems of a high crest factor, low average power, and energy-output inefficiency.

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are useful for harvesting clean and widely distributed water droplet energy with high efficiency. However, the commonly used polymer films in TENGs for water droplet energy harvesting have the disadvantages of poor breathability, poor skin affinity, and irreparable hydrophobicity, which greatly hinder their wearable uses. Here, we report an all-fabric TENG (F-TENG), which not only has good air permeability and hydrophobic self-repairing properties but also shows effective energy conversion efficiency. The hydrophobic surface composed of SiO2 nanoparticles and poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene)/perfluorodecyltrichlorosilane (PVDF-HFP/FDTS) exhibits a static contact angle of 157° and displays excellent acid and alkali resistance. Because of its low glass transition temperature, PVDF-HFP can facilitate the movement of FDTS molecules to the surface layer under heating conditions, realizing hydrophobic self-repairing performance. Furthermore, with the optimized compositions and structure, the water droplet F-TENG shows 7-fold enhancement of output voltage compared with the conventional single-electrode mode TENG, and a total energy conversion efficiency of 2.9% is achieved. Therefore, the proposed F-TENG can be used in multifunctional wearable devices for raindrop energy harvesting.

Wave is inherently characterized by disorder and randomness, which is a great challenge for the conventional wave-based triboelectric nanogenerator (W-TENG) and necessitates conducting adaptability research on the device. Therefore, we proposed a morphological transformation strategy, that is, W-TENG can actively transform the motion patterns of self-structure to accommodate the variations in waves and achieve the power improvement. And a morphological transformation TENG (MT-TENG) with multi-mode operation is developed for harvesting irregular wave energy. Furthermore, the disorder wave motion is transformed into a bidirectional continuous rotation of power generation units, which realizes the continuous waveform output. Experimental results demonstrate that the wave power grows by 9.22 times with frequency increase, and the device's performance increases by 114.136 times utilizing this strategy. And MT-TENG can output 39.67 mA through the energy management circuit and a peak power density of 30.62 W/m3 under the wave excitation of 1.1 Hz. Finally, the self-powered environmental monitoring system is constructed, which can illuminate ten 30 W LEDs in series and provide a continuous energy supply to the wireless sensor module. This work presents a research paradigm for the design of wave-environment adaptability, holding significant implications for improving performance and constructing self-powered sensing systems.

'PRINT®' published in 'Encyclopedia of Nanotechnology'

Three-dimensional (3D) WO3 nanostructures were grown on carbon paper by a catalyst-free high temperature reactive vapor deposition process, which exhibit a good photoelectrochemical property and visible light driven photocatalytic performance.

Using a thin film of metallic tin as catalyst, ultrasmall single-crystalline zinc oxide nanobelts have been synthesized in large quantity using a simple solid−vapor technique. The nanobelts have an average width of 5.5 nm and a narrow size distribution of ±1.5 nm. The nanobelts grew along the [0001] direction, with (21̄1̄0) top/bottom surfaces and (011̄0) side surfaces. Photoluminescence measurement showed a blue shift in the emission spectrum compared to that acquired from ZnO nanobelts of ∼200 nm in width. These ultrafine nanobelts should be good candidates for investigating size-induced electrical and optical properties of functional oxides.

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