I-Corps: A Green and Flexible Nanogenerator Film for Sensing and Energy-Harvesting Applications

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是提供一种高效、环保和可持续的方式来从步行步骤中获取能源。我们的能量收集脚垫可以将人类正常的行走脚步转化为电力。预计该垫子将起到1)可再生能源、2)物联网传感器电源、3)具有无线连接的自供电传感器的功能。这种垫子可以帮助零售店和制造公司分析客户/工人的位置和人流模式，从而使他们受益，并可以满足学校、机场、体育场等人流密集地区的能量存储和信息传输需求。如果开发成功，这款垫子可以与各种地板产品集成，并应用于智能建筑和物联网行业。这种垫子还对环境产生了影响，减少了碳足迹，促进了绿色天然材料的使用和可再生能源的产生。i-Corps项目基于正在申请专利的纤维素摩擦电动纳米发电机技术。这项技术位于材料科学、电气工程、化学和化学工程的交叉点，研究成果可能会对快速增长的智能建筑和物联网行业产生潜在影响。这项技术解决了从廉价、丰富的天然材料中开发出薄而高效的摩擦电纳米发电机的技术挑战，方法是对天然材料的摩擦极性进行大量调整，并对纳米发电机的合理配置进行设计。在这项研发工作中开发的批量调整和配置设计方法可以应用于其他相关领域，包括机械能收割机设计和材料表面势能工程。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to provide an efficient yet environmentally-friendly and sustainable way to harvest energy from walking steps. Our energy-harvesting subfloor mat can convert normal human walking steps to electricity. The mat is expected to serve the function of 1) a renewable energy source, 2) a power supply for IoT sensors, 3) a self-powered sensor with wireless connectivity. The mat can benefit retail stores and manufacturing companies by helping them analyze the customer/worker locations and foot traffic patterns, and can meet the needs of energy storage and information transmission at heavy foot traffic area like school, airport, stadium. If developed successfully, this mat can be integrated with various floor products and applied across the smart building and IoT industry. This mat also has an environmental impact in which it reduces carbon footprint, promotes use of green natural materials and generation of renewable energy.This I-Corps project is based on a patent-pending cellulose triboelectric nanogenerator technology. This technology lies at the intersection of materials science, electrical engineering, and chemistry and chemical engineering, and the research findings can potentially impact the rapidly growing smart building and IoT industry. This technology addresses the technical challenge of developing a thin yet highly effective triboelectric nanogenerator from cheap, abundant natural materials, by bulk tuning of the tribopolarity of natural materials and rational configuration design of the nanogenerator. The bulk tuning and configuration design methodologies developed in this R&D effort can be applied to other relevant areas, including mechanical energy harvester design, and materials surface potential engineering.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.