Wind energy-driven rabbit hair TENG for railway detection

To improve the output performance and durability of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), this study presents a high-performance flexible-contact TENG (FC-TENG). The FC-TENG consists of an energy-harvesting unit and a power-generation unit. Furthermore, the performance of the power-generation unit is analyzed using the nodal analysis method and validated through simulation. Notably, through experimental validation, the structural parameters of the FC-TENG are optimized, and the output performance under parallel connection is systematically investigated. The results indicate that, at a rotational speed of 300 rpm, the open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current, transferred charge, and output power reach 2,284 V, 45.16 μA, 798.38 nC, and 10.68 mW, respectively. After 3.45 million operating cycles, the transferred charge of the power-generation unit decreases from 221.58 to 185.61 nC, corresponding to a degradation of only 7%. Overall, this study achieves a balance between output performance and durability, offering an efficient solution for railway line monitoring applications.