Commercial nail polish-based single-electrode triboelectric nanogenerator for mechanical energy harvesting and water droplet energy conversion

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have brought new opportunities to realize relevant low-frequency mechanical energy self-powered systems, it is still a challenge and holds back the development of simple, low-cost, and scalable triboelectric materials. In this work, a triboelectric layer is made of commercially available nail polish used to fabricate a single-electrode TENG (abbreviated as N-TENG). The device was driven in single-electrode mode and exhibited an open-circuit voltage of 195 V, short-circuit current of 1300 nA, and maximum output power of 51.09 μW at an external load resistance of 500 MΩ. The electrical performance illustrates how nail polish acts as a feasible triboelectric material used for energy conversion, especially due to its availability. The practical applicability was validated through powering a commercial calculator, and other experiments proved that the device could harvest energy from free-falling water droplets under gravitational potential, indicating further applications for rain-energy harvesting. With the advantages of simple fabrication process, low-cost materials and acceptable electrical performance, the proposed N-TENG is practical for self-powered electronics and environmental energy harvesting.