Self-Powered Autonomous Sensing System for Arctic Ocean using a Frequency-multiplied Cylindrical Triboelectric Nanogenerator

Ocean waves are a great source of energy for powering sensing systems in the ocean but there has been limited research done on small-scale energy harvesting in the Arctic Ocean. The available wave energy in the Arctic Ocean is lower than in other regions due to the low wave frequency, low wave height, and seasonal formation of sea ice. Here, the Arctic Ocean Triboelectric Nanogenerator (AO-TENG) was developed. This device is an ocean wave energy harvesting system that uses triboelectric nanogenerator technology to power an autonomous sensing system in the Arctic Ocean. AO-TENG was designed based on a frequency-multiplied cylindrical TENG (FMC-TENG) mechanism, which is suitable for low frequency waves, like the ones frequently present in the Arctic Ocean. The performance of the AO-TENG was evaluated in Arctic-like conditions where the peak power density reached 5.9 W/m
³
at a wave frequency of 0.2 Hz, a temperature of -40 ºC, and generated 5.7 J per day, demonstrating the feasibility to power an acoustic transmitter in the Arctic Ocean.