A Triboelectric Energy Harvester Using Low-Cost, Flexible, and Biocompatible Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA)

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a triboelectric energy harvester (EH) using ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) polymer for the first time. EVA acts as a polymer with positive electrification properties against metals such as gold and aluminum. The EVA sheet provides us with a low-cost EH as the usage of already roll-to-roll-patterned sheet enables us to avoid the common expensive patterning methods for introducing the required roughness to the EH device. Moreover, the biocompatibility and flexibility of EVA makes it a suitable candidate for future implantation of this EH inside body. The transparency of EVA helps us to design the EVA-based EHs in different configurations for the characterization with two types of setups. The proposed new mass-tapping and detachment setups for the EVA EHs bring us more effective methods to quantitatively investigate important properties of EH while resembling the daily motions of a living being rather than using motorized characterization methods.