Breeze-driven triboelectric nanogenerator for wind energy harvesting and application in smart agriculture

[Display omitted] •The breeze-driven triboelectric nanogenerator is proposed.•The prototype can harvest the breeze energy efficiently.•The start-up wind speed of the prototype is as low as 3.3 m/s.•The energy conversion efficiency of the prototype can reach 12.06%. Smart agriculture is becoming an inevitable trend with the wide application of sensor networks. To supply energy for agricultural sensors, the wind energy harvester supports a possible solution. However, the average wind speed on the earth surface is only 3.28 m/s, which cannot easily be harvested by traditional generators efficiently. To efficiently harvest breeze energy in the farmland environment, a breeze-driven triboelectric nanogenerator (BD-TENG) was proposed. By selecting lightweight rotor materials and designing suitable wind scoops structures, the start-up wind speed of BD-TENG is as low as 3.3 m/s, and when the wind speed is 4 m/s, the energy conversion efficiency of the BD-TENG can reach 12.06%. Moreover, under 4 m/s wind speed, the output performance of the BD-TENG is 330 V, 7 μA, 137 nC, and the peak power is 2.81 mW. So, the BD-TENG is easier to operate normally even in low wind speed environments and can harvest natural breeze energy efficiently. Experiments prove that in natural environments, the BD-TENG successfully lights up 300 red and blue light-emitting diodes in series, which can be applied to increase lighting time for plants at night. Moreover, the BD-TENG can power a soil thermometer by harvesting natural breeze energy. Therefore, the BD-TENG can be widely used in farmland environments to provide energy for agricultural sensor networks. The BD-TENG has bright prospects in smart agriculture and can promote its sustainable development.