Recent progress in the development of portable high voltage source based on triboelectric nanogenerator

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), which can transfer surrounding environmental mechanical stimuli into electricity effectively, could be an ideal candidate as a sustainable power supply for electrical devices. High voltage TENG is one of the four main application directions of TENG. There have already been many studies on TENG as a high voltage source. However, the high-voltage TENG has developed so rapidly that it has strong necessity to summarize the latest reports. In this review, we focus on the recent progress in the design and diverse applications of the high-voltage TENG. Firstly, we systematically analyze and summarize the effective ways of improving the output properties of TENG. Secondly, a detailed overview of several latest self-powered smart systems and applications based on the high-voltage TENG are illustrated, including micro/nano electromechanical systems, electrically responsive materials, drug delivery systems, capacitive sterilization systems, electrostatic manipulation systems and microplasma control systems. Finally, the possible trends and perspectives of the high voltage TENG are summarized. •Overview of recent studies of methods for TENG performance enhancement.•Recent progress in the development of smart systems based on high voltage TENG.•Possible trends and perspectives of the high voltage TENG.