• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.71-76
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• 2021

As opposed to using fossil fuels, we need to use eco-friendly resources such as sunlight, raindrops and wind to produce electricity and combat environmental pollution. A triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is a device that converts mechanical energy into electricity by inducing repetitive contact and separation of two dissimilar materials. During the contact and separation processes, electron flow occurs owing to a change in electric potential of the contacting surface caused by contact electrification and electrostatic induction mechanisms. A solid-solid contact TENG is widely known, but it is possible to generate electricity via liquid-solid contact. Therefore, by designing a hydrophobic TENG, we can gather electricity from raindrop energy in a feasible manner. To fabricate the superhydrophobic surface of TENGs, we employ a dip coating technique to synthesize an octadecylamine (ODA)- and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based coating on polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The synthesized coating exhibits superhydrophobicity with a contact angle greater than 150° and generates a current of 2.2 ㎂/L while water droplets fall onto it continuously. Hence, we prepare a box-type TENG, with the ODA/PDMS coating deposited on the inside, and place a 1.5 mL water droplet into it. Resultantly, we confirm that the induced vibration causes continuous impacts between the ODA/PDMS coating and the water, generating approximately 100 pA for each impact.