Study of a hybrid generator based on triboelectric and electromagnetic mechanisms

Energy harvesting technique has been identified as an innovative and environment-friendly way for powering micro sensors and electronic devices. In this paper, a hybrid generator based on triboelectric and electromagnetic mechanisms (TMHG), which provides two electrical power outputs at the same time, was proposed. The output performance in time and frequency domains are investigated at different initial gap distances and excitation accelerations. At an acceleration of 1 g and an initial gap distance of 5 mm, the maximum power outputs of electromagnetic and triboelectric parts can be obtained as 0.28 mW and 1.09 mW, respectively. The resonant frequency of the TMHG is as low as 23.5 Hz, making it more suitable to harvest energy from low frequency vibrations of less than 30 Hz. Besides, the operating bandwidth of TMHG can be adjusted by changing the initial gap distance according to the application requirements.