Micro triboelectric ultrasonic device for acoustic energy transfer and signal communication

As a promising energy converter, the requirement for miniaturization and high-accuracy of triboelectric nanogenerators always remains urgent. In this work, a micro triboelectric ultrasonic device was developed by integrating a triboelectric nanogenerator and micro-electro-mechanical systems technology. To date, it sets a world record for the smallest triboelectric device, with a 50 µm-sized diaphragm, and enables the working frequency to be brought to megahertz. This dramatically improves the miniaturization and chip integration of the triboelectric nanogenerator. With 63 kPa@1 MHz ultrasound input, the micro triboelectric ultrasonic device can generate the voltage signal of 16.8 mV and 12.7 mV through oil and sound-attenuation medium, respectively. It also achieved the signal-to-ratio of 20.54 dB and exhibited the practical potential for signal communication by modulating the incident ultrasound. Finally, detailed optimization approaches have also been proposed to further improve the output power of the micro triboelectric ultrasonic device. Miniaturizing efficient triboelectric nanogenerators remains a challenge. Here, the authors propose a MEMS-based micro triboelectric device for acoustic energy transfer and signal communication which is capable of generating the voltage signal of 16.8 mV and 12.7 mV through oil and sound-attenuation medium respectively with 63kPa at 1 MHz ultrasound input.