Cost-effective methodology for electrical characterization and interconnection analysis of triboelectric nanogenerators

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) offer a promising solution for powering self-sustained systems such as wearable electronics, IoT devices, and autonomous sensors. However, the practical integration of TENGs into real-world systems remains constrained by the lack of accessible and standardized methodologies for accurate electrical characterization. This paper presents a cost-effective, broadly applicable framework for extracting key electrical parameters of TENGs such as open-circuit voltage, internal resistance, and capacitance, without relying on high-cost instrumentation. The methodology is experimentally validated through both standalone and interconnected TENG configurations (series and parallel), demonstrating excellent agreement with high-precision reference instruments. Detailed analysis of impedance matching and power transfer efficiency underscores the method’s suitability for optimizing circuit design and power management in diverse deployment scenarios. This work not only bridges the gap between high-precision diagnostics and low-resource research environments but also provides critical insights into maximizing the performance and scalability of TENG-based energy harvesting systems.