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March 21, 2026Advanced Energy Materials2 citations

A Leaf‐Inspired Janus‐Structured Triboelectric‐Moisture Hybrid Energy Harvester

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LWLiang WeiRGRui GuYFYixuan Fu

Key Points

  • The research aims to develop a hybrid energy harvester inspired by the structure of plant leaves, integrating TENGs and MEGs.
  • Developed a Janus-structured energy harvester with an upper triboelectric layer and a lower moisture-enabled layer.
  • Upper layer used silica-based materials for TENG, optimizing energy conversion efficiency.
  • Bottom layer utilized carbon-based aerogel for moisture harvesting, ensuring stable output under high humidity conditions.
  • The TENG component achieved output voltages of 16.1 V and 19.45 V in different modes, with respective power densities of 0.9 µW·cm − 2 and 17.1 µW·cm − 2.
  • The MEG component produced a continuous output of 697 mV and a power density of 0.68 µW·cm − 2.
  • The system was successfully tested in a smart emergency signaling application and for greenhouse ventilation.

Abstract

ABSTRACT Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) and moisture‐enabled electricity generators (MEGs) demonstrate significant potential in promoting sustainable energy development and supporting low‐power IoT devices. Inspired by the different functional structures of dual‐epidermis of plant leaves, this study proposes a bioinspired Janus structured energy‐leaf with hybrid triboelectric‐moisture hybrid energy harvesters in up and down structure. The upper layer utilizes a silica‐based flame‐retardant hydrophobic material to construct the TENG component, which provides a robust triboelectric layer for efficiently harvesting various forms of mechanical energy (e.g., fundamental contact‐separation mode with output voltage of 16.1 V and power density of 0.9 µW·cm − 2 ; solid–liquid contact mode with output voltage of 19.45 V and power density of 17.1 µW·cm − 2 ). The bottom layer employs a carbon‐based aerogel as the MEG component, enabling continuous output through environmental humidity modulation and maintaining stable performance even under high‐humidity conditions (697 mV, 0.68 µW·cm − 2 ). As a proof of concept, this hybrid energy harvester is demonstrated in an intelligent emergency system for effective distress signaling and in smart agriculture greenhouse ventilation systems. This study provides a novel strategy for developing high‐performance, environmentally adaptive, and structurally integrated energy harvesting systems, holding significant scientific research value and promising engineering application prospects.

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Cite This Study

Wei et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69be37ce6e48c4981c677acahttps://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202506740
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