Reversible switching performance of water droplet-driven triboelectric nanogenerators using a magnetocontrollable lubricant-infused surface for sustainable power generation

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are attracting great attention as potential renewable power sources; in particular, water droplet-driven liquid–solid (LS) TENGs are highly useful due to their abundant sources in daily life. This study developed a novel approach for switching the LS triboelectrification by using a magnetocontrollable lubricant-infused surface (MCLIS). The basic units of the MCLIS-based TENG (MCLIS-TENG), that is, magnetocontrollable microwires, showed different alignment states, i.e., vertically standing or lying down, depending on the direction of the applied magnetic field. These reversible wetting states generated distinctive voltage outputs of ∼2 V (ON state) and