Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Applied Materials Today

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apmt

Numerical simulations of piezoelectricity and triboelectricity: From

materials, structures to devices
Shengquan Li a, b, Xingyu Tang a, b, Wenwen Guo a, b, Yu Li a, b, Dajiang Chen c, Junbo Zhang c,
Qiang Zhang c, Haibo Xu c, Xiaotian Zhou c, Zhe Wan d, Roshira Premadasa d, Hongfei Lu d,
Qianyun Zhang d, *, Hadi Salehi e, *, Pengcheng Jiao a, b, *
a
Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan 316021, Zhejiang, China
b
Hainan Institute of Zhejiang University, Sanya 572025, Hainan, China
c
Powerchina Huadong Engineering Corporation Limited, Hangzhou 310000, Zhejiang, China
d
Department of Civil Engineering, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, 88003, USA
e
Department of Civil Engineering and Construction Engineering Technology, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA 71272, USA

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Piezoelectric and triboelectric materials have been extensively reported with the capabilities of generating
Numerical simulations polarized charges or voltages under various types of mechanical strains or deformations. Research on piezo­
Piezoelectricity electricity and triboelectricity has been developed from single crystals to ceramics, polymers, composite mate­
Triboelectricity
rials, etc. These materials have been widely used in various fields mainly due to the advantages of high softness,
Materials, structures and devices
low loss rate and strong stability. To understand the material properties while predicting the mechanoelectrical
response, numerical methods have been recognized as an important tool to unveil and optimize the performance.
By constructing complex material models, the numerical simulation method can deeply understand the operating
principles of piezoelectric materials and triboelectric materials, simulate and verify the experimental process and
results, evaluate the experimental parameters, and analyze the influence of different structures on the perfor­
mance of the equipment, which helps to reduce the design cost and shorten the development cycle. Furthermore,
it is beneficial to improve the design efficiency and optimize the performance of future equipment assembled
with piezoelectric or triboelectric materials. However, lack of review article has been conducted to overview the
existing numerical studies of piezoelectricity and triboelectricity, nor has study been carried out to outlook the
future development trends. To address such research gap while discussing this interesting topic, this review
article reviews the main numerical simulation techniques from materials, structures to devices at the different
levels. Polarized polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), lead zirconate titanate (PZT), piezoelectric single crystals and
composite materials are particularly discussed in the piezoelectric family, and triboelectric series consists of
polymers, cellulose materials, and metallic materials are presented. Two main directions of numerical simula­
tions of piezoelectric and triboelectric materials are described as the MD modeling from the atomic to the
microscale, and the finite element modeling (FEM) from the mesoscopic to the macroscale. Furthermore, we
discuss the three numerical simulations of multiscale simulation method, density function theory (DFT) and
generalized finite difference method (FDM). Eventually, we discuss the development trends of numerically
investigating piezoelectricity and triboelectricity in terms of the advantages and disadvantages of the discussed
five numerical methods.

1. Introduction certain materials under mechanical strain/deformation [1]. Piezoelec­

tric materials widely exist in nature, which was first man-made using
1.1. Piezoelectric materials natural crystals such as tourmaline, cane sugar, and Rochelle salt in
1880 [2]. The applications of piezoelectric materials include energy
Piezoelectricity is the generation of polarized charges or voltage by harvesters, sensors, and actuators [3,4]. Due to the rapid development of

* Corresponding authors.
E-mail addresses: qianyunz@nms.edu (Q. Zhang), hsalehi@latech.edu (H. Salehi), pjiao@zju.edu.cn (P. Jiao).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmt.2024.102092
Received 27 October 2023; Received in revised form 5 January 2024; Accepted 25 January 2024
Available online 7 February 2024
2352-9407/© 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
S. Li et al.
nanotechnology, piezoelectric materials have evolved from single crys­
tals to ceramics, polymers and composites, which have been applied to
micro/nanoscale structures and devices [5]. First, we introduce the
main categories of piezoelectric materials, say polyvinylidene fluoride
(PVDF), PZT, piezoelectric single crystals, and others. PVDF, as the most
representative piezoelectric polymer, has been widely studied and
applied due to its softness and thermoplastic properties. The existence of
piezoelectric phenomena in polarized polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)
was first confirmed in 1969 [6]. In 2018, a highly flexible haptic sensor
made of self-polar electrospinning PVDF nanofibers, by optimizing the
electrospinning parameters of PVDF nanofibers, a fiber is generated, and
the prepared sensor has the advantages of high flexibility in haptic
sensing applications [7]. A strategy for Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)
nanofiber three-layer composite membrane prepared by electrospinning
technology showed higher effluent flux and complete salt removal
ability in direct contact membrane distillation than commercial PVDF
membrane in 2019 [8]. Of course, other piezoelectric polymers have
also been studied, for instance, PTFE and FEP are widely used
heat-resistant polymers in various applications such as coatings, sealing
materials, and electronic devices. More recently, PTFE and FEP have
excellent space charge storage stability, so they can be used as base
materials for piezoelectric electrets, and by designing porous electrets
with characteristics such as flexibility, low density and low character­
istic acoustic impedance, they can realize the ideal materials for the
preparation of flexible air-coupled acoustoelectric transducers [9].
PZT is a widely used piezoelectric material, the name comes from its
main component lead zirconium titanium oxide. Due to its high elec­
trical activity, high mechanical hardness and favorable chemical sta­
bility, PZT is also representative of piezoelectric ceramics. PZT was used
as an alternative for barium titanate (BaTiO3 ), a ceramic material with
piezoelectric properties found in 1947, in various fields [10,11]. The
piezoelectric energy collector is able to convert low-frequency vibration
energy into electrical energy using piezoelectric ceramics. Through the
coordination of defect dipole, multistage domain and composite mate­
rial, the excellent balance performance of high d and large g and good
thermal stability are achieved in the modified Pb (Zr, Ti) O-3 (PZT)
based ceramics [12]. Moreover, by using a novel co-doped accept­
or-donor (Li±Sm3+) method, the tetravonal phase is introduced into the
PZT crystal, and the piezoelectric properties of PZT are effectively
improved by increasing the spontaneous polarization intensity [13]. In
addition, by designing a multifunctional flexible energy collector of
aligned PZT or shape memory polyurethane nanofibers, the effect of
absorbing energy from curved and complex structures is achieved by
utilizing its shape memory properties [14]. Variation in the laser pulse
rate was found to be an essential component. in the deposition of the
PZT films and enormously change the piezoelectric response of the films
[15]. Also, several studies have been carried out on other piezoelectric
ceramics. For example, the piezoelectric characteristics of (BaCa) (ZrTi)
O3 ceramics, one promising lead-free piezoelectric materials were
analyzed through experimental studies [16]. In the field of lead-free
ceramics, Zhang et al., using flexible piezoelectric nanogenerators
(PENG), can obtain voltages and currents that are 5–6 times higher than
traditional piezoelectric composite films [17]. Additionally, several
factors affecting high-strain perovskite piezoelectric ceramics’ charac­
teristics and strain performance were studied [18].
Piezoelectric single crystal has a longer history and has been applied
innovatively. In 1880, the piezoelectricity of quartz crystal was first
discovered. The phenomenon of relaxor ferroelectric was first found in
the lead magnesium niobate [Pb (Mg1/3 Nb2/3 )-O3 , PMN] solid solution
system [19]. Since then, multitudinous research has been carried out on
the super piezoelectric relaxor ferroelectricity materials and PMN-PT.
Flexible piezoelectric energy collectors made from monocrystal
PMN-PT NW materials are expected to be used as multi-functional tools
to evaluate the performance of one-dimensional nanostructures [20].
Recently, Relaxor-PT materials have been used in multiple transducers,
actuators, and sensors with different characteristics. With high
2
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
resistivity, low loss and excellent thermal stability, single piezoelectric
crystals became the first choice in the extremely high-temperature
environment [21]. In addition to the above materials, piezoelectric
nano-materials, and composite piezoelectric materials have gained
considerable attention. The field of nanotechnology and piezoelectric
materials have been rapidly advancing, which have been applied to
micro/nanoscale structures and devices. For example, in 2016, by using
piezoelectric zinc oxide nanowire (NW) arrays and micro-machining the
surface, the efficient coupling of integrated piezoelectric nano energy
collector and environmental vibration is realized [22]. A review paper
discussed the reasonable synthesis methods, structural characteristics,
performance analysis, and new unique applications of typical
one-dimensional nano-materials - NWs and NBs [23]. Based on the
electromechanical coupling effect, static and dynamic analysis and nu­
merical estimation are carried out to study the circuit voltage and
electric power collected by nanoscale mechanical energy, which pro­
vides valuable information for the design of nanogenerator devices
based on flexible electricity [24]. In addition, BaTiO3 thin films were
successfully transferred to the plastic substrate, the nanogenerator was
used to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. It is proven
that when this technology is applied to touch screen technology in the
future, it will show a broader prospect [25]. Upon studying nanoscale
porosity and its effect on the piezoelectricity of conductive GaN, we
observed a depletion of the previously conductive GaN layer. when the
porosity reaches 40%, while the piezoelectricity is enhanced as
measured by piezoelectric responsive force microscopy and mechanical
energy harvesting devices. It is proved that the stress-based electrome­
chanical applications combining the semiconductor and piezoelectric
properties of GaN have broad application prospects [26].
Piezoelectric composites have better comprehensive properties than
other piezoelectric materials, such as excellent piezoelectric properties
and processing properties. The PZT-based tensile piezoelectric nano­
generator (HSPG) was proposed, which could achieve high-efficiency
output and offered considerable application prospects in providing en­
ergy for flexible electronic devices [27]. More, flexible self-powered
piezoelectric cowpea-structured PVDF/ZnO nanofibers were utilized
for remote gesture control in motion sensors [28]. The piezoelectric
materials and representative piezoelectric materials developing history
in different types are shown in Fig. 1(a). Fig. 1(b) illustrates the com­
parison of the number of publications on a certain type of piezoelectric
materials in the past six years. The comparison of the similarity and
differences between the above materials is shown in Table 1.
1.2. Triboelectric materials
Contact electrification, often referred to as triboelectrification in
conventional terms, is a widespread phenomenon where materials ac­
quire an electric charge upon physical contact. It’s important to clarify
that triboelectrification encompasses both contact electrification and
the broader field of tribology, which specifically addresses the me­
chanical rubbing of materials, inevitably involving debris and friction
[52]. This phenomenon has been observed for over 2600 years, leading
to the development of numerous theories aiming to explain the transfer
of electrons that occurs during contact electrification processes [52–55].
Various models, including the band structure model, molecular orbital
model [53], and electron-cloud-potential-well model [54] have been
devised to clarify the underlying physical mechanisms. In the context of
the band structure model, an energy difference between the Fermi level
of a metal and the valence band of a dielectric material, assuming the
dielectric possesses a band structure, acts as the driving force for elec­
tron transport. However, complications arise when contact electrifica­
tion occurs between two dielectric materials lacking well-defined band
structures. In such cases, the electron-cloud-potential-well model offers
a more comprehensive explanation. According to this model, electrons
distribute among wells with distinct energy levels. Typically, in a
dielectric material, one atom possesses a greater number of occupied
S. Li et al. Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092

Fig. 1. (a) Brief development of piezoelectric materials and typical piezoelectric materials [29–43] (b) Comparison of publications of different piezoelectric materials
in recent six years.

Table 1
Comparison of material properties [44–49].
Materials d33 εr kp Flexibility Main applications Ref.

Polymers PVDF 25 6.2 – Soft Flexible electronics applications [44]

PVDF-TrFE 12.5 6 – Soft [44]
Ceramics PZT-5A 374 1700 0.60 Soft Non-toxic and high sensitivity are not required [45]
PZT-4 289 1300 0.58 Hard [46]
Single crystals [001] 0.67PMN− 0.33PT 2200 8000 0.93 Hard Precision instrument requiring low dielectric loss [47]
LiNbO3 6 30 – Hard [48]
Quartz (SiO2) 2.31 4.52 – Hard Precision instrument requiring high stability [50]
ZnO 12.7 10.3 – Medium High piezoelectric performance in low-dimensional nanostructures [51]
Composites PZT polymer composite 45 – – Medium Materials can be selected according to requirements [49]
PZT-C polymer composite 43 – – Medium [49]

3
S. Li et al.
energy levels, causing electrons from the highest level to migrate to­
wards the contacting atoms from the other dielectric material.
Conversely, the molecular orbital model replaces the conventional
conduction and valence bands used in semiconductors with the utiliza­
tion of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) and the highest
occupied molecular orbital (HOMO). In this scenario, the difference
between the neutral level of surface states in the two dielectrics drives
electron movement. In 2012, Wang [56] reported the first Triboelectric
Fig 2. (a) Positive and negative triboelectric materials based on their charging properties. (b) Various triboelectric materials utilized as electron acceptors or donors
[73].(c) Various bioinspired triboelectric applications and materials [74–85]
4
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
Nanogenerator (TENG). Since then, the triboelectrification phenomenon
has started gaining much attention and has been widely utilized.
However, it continues to pose challenges in research due to the wide
array of triboelectric materials available for investigation [57]. The
critical factors influencing CE, including surface charge density, polar­
ity, and charge intensity, are heavily reliant on the specific materials
involved [58–61]. Many materials exhibit triboelectrification charac­
teristics, whereby they become oppositely charged when physically
S. Li et al.
contacted and then separated. The strength of these charges varies
depending on the specific materials involved [62,63]. Tribo­
electrification in materials hinges on their capacity to either gain or lose
electrons. The triboelectric series serves as a valuable tool for eluci­
dating this phenomenon, ranking different materials based on their
general triboelectrification tendencies [64]. The triboelectric series
characterizes how materials tend to produce triboelectric charges. Most
existing triboelectric series are primarily qualitative, ordering materials
based on their polarity of charge generation. Fig. 2a, shows an example
of some triboelectric materials based on their charging properties. The
first triboelectric series, introduced in 1757 by Wilcke [65], featured ten
common materials arranged by polarity. Over time, this series has
evolved to encompass a wider range of materials and has been adjusted
to account for additional factors, including surface conditions and
environmental influences [66,67]. Recent years have witnessed
numerous studies dedicated to establishing and updating the rankings
within the triboelectric series for both new and existing materials [68,
69]. For instance, Lee et al. [66] conducted experimental tests to
determine charge affinity values for various materials under low
surface-to-surface loading conditions. Zhang et al. [70] focused on
pinpointing the position of solid carbon dioxide within the triboelectric
series, suggesting it may lie between poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA)
and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Additionally, Zhang et al. [71] undertook
research aimed at rationalizing the rankings of different polymers within
the triboelectric series. Their study involved testing ten distinct poly­
mers in various combinations, leading to the establishment of a tribo­
electric series specifically for the polymers under investigation.
Recently, a standardized method [72] has been developed to quantita­
tively assess the inherent triboelectric charge density (TECD) of mate­
rials. This procedure entails making contact between a test material and
liquid metal while harnessing the output of a TENG under specific
conditions. We have assembled an extensive table that includes over 55
different varieties of organic polymer films. Conversely, inorganic ma­
terials possess distinct atomic and band structures when compared to
polymers. Therefore, it is essential to determine the triboelectric series
for a diverse range of common solid inorganic materials and explore
their triboelectric characteristics. This undertaking seeks to establish a
fundamental understanding of the fundamental principles that govern
their behavior.
A wide range of materials are employed as triboelectric layers,
encompassing polymers [86] (PTFE, PDMS, FEP, Kapton, etc.), inor­
ganic non-metallic materials [87] (graphene, MoS2, WS2, etc.), cellulose
materials (wood, water, paper, etc.), and metallic materials [88] (silver,
copper, aluminum, etc.). Based on their abilities to lose and gain elec­
trons, they were positioned in positive and negative side of the tribo­
electric series. A review paper [73] illustrates the proportion of various
materials utilized as electron acceptors or donors, as shown in Fig. 2b.
Based on the material properties, various triboelectric materials have
been selected for different applications. Polymers offer a multitude of
material applications due to their significant advantages, which include
lightweight characteristics, ease of processing and shaping, durability,
toughness, and the ability to tailor their surface properties and incor­
porate antimicrobial features. Over the past decade, the utilization of
polymers in energy generation and energy storage devices has experi­
enced exponential growth. As a result, polymers are widely used tribo­
electric materials. Interestingly, metal films, including but not limited to
Al, Cu, Ag, and Au, find extensive application not only as triboelectric
layers but also as electrodes. This unconventional approach of employ­
ing metal films contrasts with the conventional notion favoring the use
of materials with vastly different charge affinities. Based on the positions
of materials in the triboelectric series, they are selected as combinations
for various applications. Fig. 2c shows some triboelectric devices
designed by natural organisms for sensing or energy acquisition in
combination with the characteristics of triboelectric materials.
5
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
1.3. Numerical simulation methods
Piezoelectric and triboelectric materials are being continuously
developed, where a variety of new piezoelectric and triboelectric ma­
terials have recently emerged. In this context, research on the charac­
teristics of piezoelectric and triboelectric materials has attracted much
attention. Piezoelectricity and triboelectrification have been investi­
gated using numerical, experimental, and theoretical methods for ma­
terial characterization at the atomic to microscale, and structure or
device applications at the micro- to macroscale [89–96]. Compared with
its counterparts, the numerical method has been considered a powerful
tool to investigate the piezoelectric and triboelectric effects, especially
for the structures designed with complex components [97,98] and the
devices used for particular excitations [99,100]. Among them, the
triboelectric effect is caused by friction or shear force to separate the
internal charge of the material. In contrast, the piezoelectric effect arises
from applying pressure or strain to a material, which lead to the
deformation of its lattice structure and charges redistribution. In its
corresponding digital simulation, the triboelectric simulation concen­
trates on the occurrence of charge separation caused by friction or shear
force in the material, commonly used as the friction layer in polymers.
The piezoelectric simulation focuses on the charge separation of mate­
rials under force or pressure, and the materials mainly include PVDF,
PZT, piezoelectric ceramics, and piezoelectric single crystals. Piezo­
electric materials have been extensively studied using MD and FEM
techniques and triboelectric while exhibiting their advantages in the
field. MD simulation methods determine the changes of displacement
and conformation according to the internal dynamics of the system and
tracks the motion of each particle in the system. According to physical
statistics, the relationship between microscopic quantity and macro­
scopic observable measurement is given to study material properties
[101]. The basic limitation of MD is that the number of particles that can
be processed is relatively small. The method generally selects a molecule
or atom as the basic unit such that the memory capacity and processing
speed of the computer limit the size of the selected system to a certain
extent, which is generally applicable to the atomic to the micro-scale,
but not to the macro scale [102,103]. The FEM mathematically ap­
proximates real physical systems, including geometry and load condi­
tions. The key idea is to find a solution to a complex problem by using a
simpler problem. By dividing the whole system into several simple and
interacting elements (i.e., elements), a real system with a finite number
of unknowns is approximately able to be a system with an infinite
number of unknowns [104]. When utilizing the FEM, the size and shape
of the elements can be and defined according to the needs, and the
small-scale features can be captured on the features of the large-scale
solution.
The research example and scale comparison using MD and FEM are
shown in Fig. 3. From the characterization perspective at the atomic to
microscale, piezoelectric materials have been extensively investigated
using numerical tools such as MD. For example, MD simulation was
conducted to analyze the structure and dielectric permittivity of poly­
vinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composites with varying barium titanate
(BT) contents in 2021 [105]. The accuracy of the polarized charge
balance (PQEq) force field model proposed for studying PT, PZ, and PZT
was evaluated through MD simulation to determine the model’s feasi­
bility [106]. Further, the atomic scheme based on the first principle was
used to study the piezoelectric properties. The atomistic model obtained
by calculation and fitting can reflect the material’s structural charac­
teristics at a specific temperature and thus calculate the inherent attri­
butes of a single crystal [107]. The uniaxial tensile load was applied to
ZnO nanowires with [0001] orientation and observed its fracture
mechanism with MD simulations [108]. The Binks interatomic potential
modeled zinc atom interactivity without shell polarization. Moreover,
the study established MD for six ZnO nanoribbons and performed MD
simulations to analyze the piezoelectric effect of bulk ZnO and ZnO
nanobelts at different scales [109].
S. Li et al.
Fig 3. Examples of research on piezoelectric materials, structures, and devices using MD and FEM [110,106,111].
From the application perspective at the micro to macroscale, piezo­
electric structures and devices have been examined using the FEM. For
example, the deformation behavior of a two-dimensional biomorphic
piezoelectric actuator model with two layers of polyvinylidene fluoride
(PVDF) material in the situation of an external electric field was
analyzed by using FEM to assess its inverse piezoelectric effect [112].
The finite element program is utilized to analyze and simulate the
operation of PZT piezoelectric sensor in concrete, and the damage index
is introduced to evaluate the concrete defects quantitatively [111].
Additionally, FEM was utilized as a more efficient and accurate method
in the context of analyzing and design of multichannel quartz crystal
microbalance where quartz crystal was used to make multichannel
quartz crystal microbalance (MQCM) device as a sensor to detect the
variations of micro-mass in engineering [113]. Also, using the finite
element modeling methid to study a metal core piezoelectric fiber/­
epoxy resin matrix composite’s piezoelectric effect, which senses
changes in charge to detect small changes in the environment, including
the presence and activity of viruses, confirms that the material has the
potential as a virus detection sensor [114]. In general, two kinds of
coupled parts make up the practical piezoelectric vibration energy
harvesting (PVEH) systems: the interface circuit and the collection
structure. Using FEM and circuit analysis, a model is proposed to
combine the interface circuit’s the equivalent electrical impedance with
the collection structure’s the finite element model. Then the finite
element analysis is used to estimate the equivalent circuit model pa­
rameters of the structure, verified then compared by numerical simu­
lation, and finally applied to system-level optimization in engineering
[115]. More, a proposed finite element model called CPC-FEM to
analyze the vibration-based piezoelectric energy collector (EHD)’s
power output when connected to the load resistor [116].
6
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
Similarly, triboelectric materials have undergone thorough charac­
terization from atomic to microscale using numerical techniques,
particularly MD. For example, scientists have utilized MD modeling to
replicate the charge transfer phenomena. They have introduced butyl­
ated melamine formaldehyde (BMF) as a potential triboelectric material
because of its remarkable mechanical resilience and strongly positive
triboelectric properties, which can be attributed to its hydrogen-
containing functional groups. Both experimental measurements and
calculations confirm that BMF exhibits superior triboelectric perfor­
mance when compared to both pristine and methylated melamine
formaldehyde (MF). The MD simulations further demonstrate that BMF
possesses a Young’s modulus six times greater than that of polytetra­
fluoroethylene (PTFE), a commonly used triboelectric material [117]. A
research project delved into the impact of structural defects on the water
adsorption tendency of glass surfaces, with a specific focus on how these
defects are influenced by the overall composition of the glass. Using
classical MD, the study employed ternary calcium aluminosilicate (CAS)
glasses as models to gain insights into how the composition of the glass
affects the concentration of structural defects in the surface’s outermost
layers [118]. The MD results matched experimental results and sug­
gested that glass bulk chemistry and the resulting surface defect states
are critical factors influencing glass contact charging behavior. A study
utilized density functional theory (DFT) to quantitatively examine
charge transfer in various scenarios. Molecular modeling, potential en­
ergy surface scanning, and data analysis are employed to analyze the
electrification behavior of different cases [119]. Experimental work
involves analyzing the morphology, structure, dielectric properties, and
surface electronics of PDMS-based films in a solid-solid model. The study
confirms that incorporating Ag NWs enhances the triboelectric perfor­
mance and the output of a TENG, consistent with the calculations. This
S. Li et al.
microcosmic calculation method can be used to pre-evaluate the tribo­
electric performance of materials, aiding in the understanding of phys­
icochemical properties at electrification interfaces and the selection of
high-performance materials for triboelectric devices.
Triboelectric structures and devices have been analyzed using FEM
from a micro to macroscale application viewpoint. For example, Li et al.
[120] present a single-electrode rotational triboelectric nanogenerator
(SR-TENG) consisting of two wheels and a belt to capture mechanical
energy. To achieve a more precise understanding of the proposed
operational mechanism, they have employed numerical simulations
using the finite element method (FEM). These simulations involve the
computation of potential distribution when the circuit is open and
monitoring the changes in the charge density induced on the surface of
the aluminum film when the circuit is short-circuited. A
tetrahedral-shaped contact-separation TENG was specially designed to
harness energy from ocean waves. The optimization of the energy har­
vester’s power output was carried out using Finite Element Analysis. The
structure comprises a smaller tetrahedron suspended within a larger
one. When subjected to external oscillations, these two tetrahedrons
come into and out of contact. The initial oscillation frequency of the
structure is tailored to align with the predominant frequency of ocean
waves. Fine-tuning the side length ratio and positioning of the tetrahe­
dral structure enhances the power output. Experimental findings
demonstrate a peak-to-peak voltage output of up to 200 V, a short-circuit
current of 30 μA, and a peak power output of 14.7 mW when connected
to a 10 MΩ resistive load. The TENG successfully powers multiple LED
lamps and a thermohygrograph. This innovative design has the potential
for applications such as self-powered ocean sensor nodes, harnessing
free water wave energy [121]. Innovative concepts of combining
triboelectric (TENG) and electromagnetic (EMG) generator to create a
hybrid water wave energy harvester has been proposed in [122].
Extensive FEM analysis was conducted to assess the practicality of this
design, demonstrating its capacity to charge storage units, illuminate
light-emitting diodes, and power sensors. However, experimental
testing of piezoelectric and triboelectric materials and devices involves a
variety of physical effects including multi-field coupling, which requires
a lot of resources and equipment, including sample preparation, test
equipment and experimental conditions, etc. At the same time, some
piezoelectric materials and triboelectric devices are limited by size and
structure, and their processing and preparation process is relatively
difficult, requiring special technology and equipment, which will in­
crease a lot of experimental costs. To address such lack in the field, this
review article focuses on numerical simulations of piezoelectric and
triboelectric materials, structures and devices. This paper analyzes the
piezoelectric and triboelectric effect principle and typical materials. In
addition, the existing numerical simulation research on piezoelectric
and triboelectric materials, including MD modeling from atomic to
microscale and finite element modeling from mesoscale to macroscale, is
summarized. This work aims to realize the penetration of materials,
structures, and devices from the perspective of numerical simulation
based on existing piezoelectric and triboelectric research. The following
sections of this article are arranged as: Section 2 introduces the general
method employed in piezoelectric simulations using Abaqus CAE, the
notations used to describe piezoelectric materials. Section 3 presents the
principles of triboelectric effects and typical triboelectric materials.
Section 4 presents further detail specific to each model simulation, the
simulations’ results, and the models’ conceptual applications. Section 5
summarizes numerical simulations of triboelectric materials and de­
vices. Conclusion and discussion are provided in the last section.
2. Principles of piezoelectric effect and typical piezoelectric
materials
2.1. Basic principles of piezoelectric effect
The piezoelectric effect is the separation of charge and polarization
7
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
of certain materials when subjected to external forces. (pressure). This
effect is due to the displacement of atoms or molecules in a specific
crystal structure, which causes charge redistribution, resulting in charge
separation and polarization [123]. The positive piezoelectric effect re­
fers to the scenario in which the piezoelectric body is polarized by the
external mechanical force and an external mechanical force causes
charges with opposite signs to appear on its surface, proportional to the
force applied. However, the reverse piezoelectric effect denotes the
scenario where a piezoelectric body is deformed in an external electric
field, where variable shape is proportional to its intensity. The positive
piezoelectric effect is widely used in sensor design, while the reverse
piezoelectric effect is used in actuator design. Solids exhibiting a positive
piezoelectric effect also exhibit an inverse piezoelectric effect, and vice
versa [124]. Piezoelectric effects consist of both positive and reverse
piezoelectric effects, which are collectively known as piezoelectric ef­
fects. The symmetry of the crystal structure determines its piezoelectric
effect. Fig. 3 shows the basic principle of the piezoelectric and classical
piezoelectric effects [125–128].
2.2. Typical piezoelectric materials of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)
Among various piezoelectric materials, polyvinylidene fluoride
(PVDF) has been considered one of the most versatile piezoelectric
polymers [129]. Although the piezoelectric and dielectric properties are
not as high as that of most piezoelectric ceramics, for an example, lead
zirconate titanate (PZT), PVDF is still a preferred choice in specific ap­
plications, including active sensing and energy harvesting, due to its
flexibility and sensitivity to small vibrations, well durability, high
embeddability in other materials, and the excellent possibility of mixing
with other piezoelectric enhancing additives [130,131]. PVDF has
certain advantages over PZT as piezoelectric ceramics. PVDF is a light­
weight, compatible piezoelectric polymer material with high dielectric
strength, very sensitive to mechanical load, and has stable piezoelectric
properties under different environmental conditions. As a result, PVDF is
increasingly used in daily life and scientific research, especially for
sensors [132]. The PVDF also suffers from several inherent disadvan­
tages, limiting its wide utilization, such as low d33 and DH values and a
low dielectric constant. Moreover, PVDF films require a powerful elec­
tric field for polarization, making the polarization slightly tricky [124].
Fig. 4(b) shows the principles of PVDF [133]. Eqs. (1) and (2) mathe­
matically define the coupling between stress, strain, and electric
displacement in piezoelectric materials.
∂ = SV F + dV (1)
and
Q = dF + CF V (2)
where, ∂: Deflection or displacement of the piezoelectric device; Q:
Charge on the terminals of the piezoelectric device; F: Force exerted on
the device; V: Voltage across the electrodes; SV: Compliance under
constant voltage; d: Piezoelectric coefficient; and CF: Capacitance under
constant force [134].
2.3. Typical piezoelectric materials of lead zirconate titanate (PZT)
Lead zirconium titanate (PZT) is a typical excellent piezoelectric
material [135]. Although PZT has better piezoelectric and dielectric
properties than PVDF, it is toxic, vulnerable, and flexible, which has an
enormous impact on the environment. Due to the high lead content,
these materials are highly toxic, which will be further enhanced through
volatilization with the increase in temperature [136]. Since these ma­
terials have high density, they will have large characteristic acoustic
impedance requiring matching layers. The relative dielectric constant of
PZT piezoelectric ceramics is large, generally, more than 1 000, making
it not easy to check with the line when used for high-frequency
S. Li et al.
Fig 4. (a) The principle of piezoelectric effect [125]. (b) The principle of piezoelectric signal by PVDF material. (c) The principle of Piezoelectric ceramics. (d)The
principle of piezoelectric quartz. (e) The principle of piezoelectric device [126–128].
resonators, so it can only be used for lower-frequency resonators
generally. Significant mechanical mass factors make it necessary to add
a damping layer to reduce the ringing to an acceptable level. Despite the
high dielectric constant of PZT, its inherent low breakdown strength
makes it unsuitable for energy harvesting applications [124,132,
137–139]. However, the utilization of piezoelectric polarization to
induce piezo-catalysis has been established as a potent technology with
promising potential for various energy and environmental applications.
Feng et al. designed and prepared a kind of lead zirconate titanate
(PbZrxTi1− xO3 (PZT)) material, studied the piezoelectric catalytic re­
action process in solution phase under stirring, and found that the stir­
ring speed and the doping process have a significant effect on the
catalytic reaction [140]. Wang et al. used the sodium niobate nanowires
synthesized by hydrothermal synthesis to achieve the effect of dye
wastewater removal by piezoelectric catalysis [141]. In daily life, PZT
thin film is one of the most widely used piezoelectric materials [142].
8
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
Due to its powerful energy, PZT polarization is commonly used in
electronic devices such as speakers, ultrasonic imaging probes, ultra­
sonic transducers, buzzers, and ultrasonic motors [143]. In the early
days, the sol-gel method was commonly used to prepare PZT thin films
and for practical applications in MEMS devices, such as drives, trans­
ducers, and pressure sensors [144]. However, with the improvement of
the preparation technology, there are more and more methods to pre­
pare PZT films, such as pulsed laser deposition technology and vapor
deposition of metal compounds [145,146]. Fig. 4(c) shows the principle
of piezoelectric ceramics.
2.4. Other typical piezoelectric materials
In addition to organic piezoelectric materials and piezoelectric ce­
ramics, piezoelectric crystals and piezoelectric composites are also
typical piezoelectric materials [125,147]. The common feature of
S. Li et al.
piezoelectric crystals is that the crystal point group (symmetric type) has
no center of symmetry, and different piezoelectric crystals have partic­
ular characteristics [148]. In terms of applications, piezoelectric crystals
are widely used as crystal oscillators depending on crystal vibration’s
functions and implementation techniques. Among them, the single
piezoelectric crystal is very representative. Moreover, single piezoelec­
tric crystal has excellent performance [149–151]. Fig. 4(d) shows the
principle of piezoelectric crystals. Piezoelectric composites have been
introduced to adapt to the progress of science and technology and
increasing human demand. Standard piezoelectric composites are
Fig 5. PVDF, PZT, piezoelectric crystals and piezoelectric composites for applications in bioengineering and energy harvesting [157–164].
9
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
two-phase materials composed of piezoelectric ceramics and polymers,
such as polyvinylidene fluoride and epoxy resin [152]. The unique
ability of piezoelectric composites is that they can combine the piezo­
electric properties of piezoelectric ceramics with the plasticity of poly­
mers, so that the material has both piezoelectric properties and
deformability. This combination material can be widely used in fields
such as sensing technology, power electronics, and acoustic engineering,
among others, to meet people’s needs for powerful and adaptable ma­
terials [153,154]. Furthermore, piezoelectric composite materials are
widely used in transducers to realize the interconversion between
S. Li et al.
mechanical and electric energy [155,156]. Fig. 5 shows PVDF, PZT,
piezoelectric crystals and piezoelectric composites for applications in
bioengineering and energy harvesting [157–164].
3. Principles of triboelectric effects and typical triboelectric
materials
3.1. Basic principles of triboelectric effect
As mentioned earlier in the introduction, numerous theories have
been put forward to explain the electron transfer phenomenon observed
during contact electrification processes. However, it wasn’t until the
introduction of the TENG in 2012 that triboelectrification garnered
significant attention and found wide-ranging applications. In this sec­
tion, we will delve into the fundamental principles of TENG to shed light
on the triboelectric effects it harnesses. The key operational principle of
TENGs combines the processes of contact electrification and electro­
static induction. Contact electrification results in the generation of static
polarized charges, while electrostatic induction acts as the primary
mechanism for converting mechanical energy into electricity. Since
capacitors serve as the cornerstone of electrostatics, TENGs inherently
exhibit capacitive behavior at their core [165].
In the realm of triboelectric generators, these devices consist of a pair
of materials arranged in front of each other, forming what is termed as
tribo-pairs. The separation distance (x) between these two triboelectric
layers can be modified through mechanical force. Upon coming into
contact, the surfaces of these two triboelectric layers gain opposite static
charges, which are known as tribo-charges, due to contact electrifica­
tion. In addition to the tribo-pair layers, the TENG system includes two
meticulously insulated electrodes. This insulation ensures that charges
can only traverse between the two electrodes via external circuits. TENG
operates in four fundamental modes: contact-separation mode, sliding
Fig 6. (a-d) The working mechanism for four different TENG modes: contact-separation, sliding, single electrode, and freestanding modes. (e) The theoretical model
for contact-separation mode of TENG.
10
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
mode, freestanding mode, and single electrode mode [166]. Figs. 6a-d
illustrate the operational principles of the four TENG modes. As an
illustration, Fig. 6e depicts the theoretical model for a contact separation
TENG. Depending on the materials used for the triboelectric pairs,
contact-mode TENGs with attached electrodes can be primarily classi­
fied into two groups: dielectric-to-dielectric (Fig. 6e-1) and
conductor-to-dielectric (Fig. 6e-2) types [167,168].
Let’s take the conductor-to-dielectric contact-mode TENG as an
example. In this mode, metal 1 serves both as the upper triboelectric
layer and the top electrode, while dielectric 1 with a thickness denoted
as d_1 constitutes the lower triboelectric layer, and metal 2 functions as
the lower electrode. The distance x(t) between these two triboelectric
layers can be externally adjusted through mechanical force. When these
two triboelectric layers make contact under applied forces, their inner
surfaces become charged with opposite static charges, each having a
charge density represented as σ. As these triboelectric layers separate
from each other with an increasing x, it generates a potential difference
(V) between the two electrodes. The quantity of charges transferred
between the two electrodes, influenced by the induced potential, is
referred to as Q. The total charge on metal 1 can be described as the sum
of the triboelectric charges (S × σ), where S represents the surface area
of the metal, and the transferred charges -Q, which is expressed as (Sσ-
Q). Metal 2 carries a charge of Q. The V-Q-x relationship is [169]:
Q σx(t)
V=− [d1 + x(t)] + (3)
Sε0 ε0
Here, ε0 , σ, x(t), and S represent the vacuum permittivity, charge
density at the contact surface, changing gap distance, and effective
contact area, respectively. The values of x(t) and S can be determined
using a developed mechanical model that relies on the force-
displacement relationship and geometric compatibility. Consequently,
this integrated electrical-mechanical theoretical model can accurately
S. Li et al.
quantify the connections between external loading and the resulting
electrical output. Similarly, theoretical models for the other three TNEG
systems can be found in [166].
3.2. Typical triboelectric materials
The triboelectric series classifies a diverse array of materials ac­
cording to their capacity to acquire or release electrons during friction.
This ranking serves as a valuable reference for researchers when
selecting triboelectric materials to attain optimal output performance in
TENGs [170]. It’s worth emphasizing that a significant portion of these
materials falls within the polymer category. Polymers play a crucial role
in facilitating the transfer and capture of charges during the
contact-electrification process, owing to their distinctive hybrid orbital
configurations. Moreover, their outstanding qualities, including flexi­
bility, ease of manufacturing, stretchability, scalability, and low weight,
establish polymers as indispensable building blocks of TENG technol­
ogy. Polymers that incorporate fluorine, such as polytetrafluoroethylene
(PTFE) and fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), are commonly used as
electron-accepting components in TENGs due to the strong
electron-attracting characteristics of fluorine. Conversely, polymers
containing electron-donating groups, like nylon, silk, and wool, are
frequently employed as electrophobia components in TENGs [171]. In
addition to polymer materials, various other materials have been
selected as triboelectric layers due to their distinct properties, including
metallic materials and inorganic non-metallic materials.
3.3. PTFE-based triboelectric materials
PTFE is widely recognized as the most prevalent electronegative
material in use, making it the primary choice for constructing TENGs in
most instances [92,93,95]. A wearable textile-based TENG that in­
corporates PTFE within its structure, featuring a core/shell fiber design
with a liquid-metal/polymer core was introduced in [172], as shown in
Fig. 7a. PTFE, renowned for its exceptional mechanical and chemical
stability, serves as the shell material. This innovative textile enables the
harvesting of human motion energy across diverse environmental con­
ditions. The system achieves remarkable open-circuit voltage and
short-circuit current outputs, measuring approximately 206 V and 28.7
Fig. 7. Application of PTFE-based triboelectric materials. (a) Textile with Wearable TENG Incorporating PTFE for Harvesting Human Motion Energy [172]. (b) TENG
Incorporating Textile with PTFE as a Negative Tribo-Material [173]. (c) Micro-Grooved TENG with PTFE Architecture for Smart Flooring and Object Detection [175].
(d) A Seawater-Compatible Liquid-Solid TENG with PTFE as the Negative Tribo-Layer for Self-Powered Marine Anticorrosion [177].
11
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
μA, respectively. Another investigation focused on enhancing the
textile-based TENG by employing PTFE as the negative tribo-material,
shown in Fig. 7b. This study explored various forms of PTFE,
including fabrics and films, with structural and chemical modifications.
Remarkably, the results indicated that PTFE films outperformed PTFE
fabrics in both knitted and woven configurations, generating higher
voltage outputs [173]. A novel TENG system with an egg-shell mem­
brane (ESM) along with PTFE was studied to examine the possibility of
developing an efficient eco-friendly power source. By utilizing the ver­
tical contact-separation mode, the device achieved a voltage of 44.6 V
and a current of 0.53 µA. However, the PTFE based TENG system has
produced effective results with other biomaterials such as garlic tunic,
onion tunic and almond peel [174]. To meet the demand for
cost-effective TENGs delivering high electrical output, researchers un­
dertook a study aimed at creating a TENG featuring micro-grooved
architected PTFE for applications such as smart floors and
object-falling detectors as shown in Fig. 7c. Impressively, this system
achieved a noteworthy power density of around 8 mW cm− 2 [175].
Unlike most woven structured TENGs, a latest study has proven to
develop successful results with a freestanding mode based TENG using
PTFE. The system used a checker pattern and has the ability to generate
power in any planar direction. A power of 34.8 µW, an open-circuit
voltage of 62.9 V and a short-circuit current of 1.77 µA can be gener­
ated by this PTFE incorporated woven-TENG [176]. The liquid-solid
TENG is highly efficient and has low wear contact, making it advanta­
geous to use, Fig. 7d presents a seawater type liquid-solid TENG with
PTFE being used as the negative tribo-layer for self-powered marine
anticorrosion. Because its weak ion adsorption and excellent tribo­
electrification performance, the PTFE film enabled the device to achieve
outstanding output performance. Replacing commercial anticorrosive
materials with the dielectric film has also reduced the friction coefficient
by about 50% [177]. Parallelly connected TENG units with Copper
particle (CP) -PTFE based tube like structures was used in a new study to
extract energy from low-frequency waves. This simple and cost-effective
device proved to be a sustainable solution to harvest energy wave en­
ergy, at a frequency of 1 Hz, the maximum current density achieved was
41.4 mA/m3.a maximum current density of 41.4 mA m− 3 at a frequency
of 1 Hz [178]. A recent study was done on a tube based TENG incor­
porated in a oscillating heat pipe to develop thermal energy harvesting
S. Li et al.
and conversion device. The PTFE bases TENG system effectively
generated an output voltage and power of 7 V and 0.32 μW respectively
[179]. PTFE was used in combination with biomaterials such as animal
hair to produce sustainable battery-less devices. The combination of
PTFE with animal hair has made it capable of producing significant
output peak-to-peak voltages of about 200 V compared to other mate­
rials used instead of PTFE such as tree cotton, ZnO, paper cellulose etc.
[180]. A tube based TENG with a self-energy harvesting ability to detect
pipe blockage and pressure abnormalities was developed. With the
efficient solid-fluid interface produced incorporating PTFE, the sensor
produced an open-circuit voltage of approximately 40 V leading to an
effective detection of water location, flow rate and blockages [181].
3.4. FEP-based triboelectric materials
Likewise, due to the presence of fluorine atoms in the main chain of a
molecule, FEP exhibits substantial electrophilic properties. A TENG
system integrated with an FEP film was designed for harnessing me­
chanical energy from water flows. An innovative feature of this system is
a non-contact cylindrical rotating device with a well-defined gap be­
tween the two rotating electrodes, ensuring they do not come into
contact and thereby enhancing durability. In comparison to other TENG
systems, this device delivered a notably high output, producing a
voltage of 1670 V and a current of µA. This capacity makes it suitable for
powering sensors, detectors, and monitoring equipment in various hy­
draulic infrastructures [182]. A high-quality FEP-electret film-based
TENG was created to ensure the system performance in the long term.
The primary focus of the study was to improve charge induction rather
than relying solely on triboelectrification during its operation. This
approach becomes particularly important when dealing with weak
contact forces that generate small oscillations without strong contact
between the two materials [183]. A liquid-solid TENG incorporating FEP
Fig 8. Application of FEP-based triboelectric materials. (a) FEP incorporated liquid− solid TENG with a simple open-structure [184]. (b) Water-tube-based tribo­
electric nanogenerator for energy harvesting [185]. (c) Multi-cylinder based TENG incorporating FEP [187]. (d) Self-powered TENG based wireless gas sensor
system [188].
12
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
with a straightforward open structure was developed, overcoming
challenges like the requirement for continuous falling droplets or the
need for full encapsulation. As shown in Fig. 8a, this FEP-based TENG
can operate reliably under harsh conditions, including high levels of
humidity combined with elevated concentrations of salt, acid, or alkali
solutions, offering improved reliability and reduced maintenance costs.
With just a 1.5 mL droplet, it achieved an open-circuit voltage of 77.0 V
and a short-circuit current of 52.0 nA [184]. Fig. 8b presenting a highly
versatile and efficient water-tube-based TENG was created by enclosing
deionized (DI) water within a FEP tube. Distinguished from many con­
ventional TENGs, this system harnessed the flexibility of water to
function in diverse operation modes, allowing it to extract power from
various mechanical energy sources, including body motion and water
waves. This innovative system achieved an impressive volumetric
output, that produced is 9 mC/m^3 at a frequency of 0.25 Hz [185]. An
eco-friendly TENG system, incorporating FEP and utilizing wheat straw,
was conceptualized to efficiently transform low-frequency and
small-amplitude mechanical energy into electrical power. This inventive
TENG system was ingeniously designed in the form of a windmill and
mimicked a natural lawn, serving the dual purpose of a sensor for
detecting wind speed and direction by measuring wind velocity This
cost-effective device displayed an impressive output power density, with
the WS-TENG achieving a remarkable 404 mW/m2 [186]. In a recent
study, an innovative TENG design was introduced, featuring a
multi-cylinder-based configuration that incorporated FEP as a key
component, as presented in Fig. 8c. This novel system comprised two
TENG units, meticulously assembled around a central shaft, with each
unit operating independently in a free-standing layer mode. Remark­
ably, this innovative setup achieved an impressive peak power density of
31.23 W/m3, marking a substantial improvement compared to a single
TENG unit [187].
In order to achieve the critical objectives of reducing societal
S. Li et al.
expenses and preventing foodborne illnesses, an extensive investigation
was carried out to develop an effective self-powered wireless gas sensor
system based on TENG, as depicted in Fig. 8d. This novel system was
created to conduct real-time evaluations of food quality, particularly
within the framework of a cold supply chain. It strategically employed
FEP as a dielectric layer in combination with wood for the real-time
monitoring of NH3 gas. Notably, this system demonstrated exceptional
stability even in challenging environmental conditions characterized by
high humidity (75%) and extremely low temperatures (− 18 ◦ C) [188]. A
novel approach for harnessing both wind and water energy has been
introduced, utilizing a TENG-based system that incorporates cotton and
an FEP film as dielectric layers. This cost-efficient method delivered
remarkable outcomes, generating a short-circuit current of 9 µA and an
open-circuit voltage of 782 V. This innovative research not only provides
a viable solution for sustainable and clean energy harvesting but also
establishes a reliable self-powered sensor for environmental monitoring
[189]. In a different research effort, a TENG system was created using
natural biomaterials, combining chitosan-starch with FEP films for the
purpose of sustainable power generation. This transparent wearable
TENG exhibited impressive characteristics, including an open-circuit
voltage of 1080 V, a short-circuit current of 16.9 mA m− 2, and a
maximum power density of 5.07 W m− 2. These advancements open up
possibilities for efficient power generation in applications such as
monitoring human movement and measuring vehicle speed [190]. A
metallic glass-based TENG was developed to assess the suitability of
metallic-glass as an alternative for copper. The device developed con­
tained metallic-glass and FEP layers as dielectric materials. This inno­
vative system not only showed good wear resistance and a lower friction
coefficient, but an enhanced energy efficiency up to 339.2 % [191].
3.5. Other triboelectric materials
It’s interesting that metals like Al, Cu, Ag, and Au are often used for
both triboelectric layers and electrodes in TENG systems, even though
conventional wisdom suggests using materials with very different
charge affinities [192–194]. The study in [195] elucidates the influence
of the electric field from charged dielectrics on the polarization of metal
electrodes in TENG. The study reveals that, even with consistent
movable charges and capacitance, differences in voltage output during
CS-TENG operation arise from distinct surface polarizations of the metal
electrode, predominantly influenced by fixed charges resulting from
metal electrode polarization. Additionally, the study finds that sym­
metrical TENG structures, with dielectric layers on both sides, enhance
the fixed charges beneficially impacting the TENG output, in contrast to
configurations with a dielectric layer attached to only one electrode.
Researchers have examined the operational efficiency of TENGs
employing dielectric-metal contact separation mode (DMCS-TENG)
when exposed to oscillatory frequencies caused by the impact of ocean
waves [196]. By conducting impact tests, researchers determined that
the best combination of dielectric and conductor materials consists of
polyimide and PDMS in contact with aluminum and silver conductive
cloth tape. Using a honeycomb-patterned aluminum foil enhanced the
output power performance by 2.3 times, attributed to increased surface
charge density between contacting layers. When integrated into a water
wave generator tank, the DMCS-TENG prototype achieved an output
high power density, suggesting its potential as an energy harvester for
ocean wave sensing applications needing self-powering. In study [197],
a device called a liquid metal-based triboelectric nanogenerator
(LM-TENG) was developed. This device combines a shear-stiffening
elastomer with liquid metal and electrothermal aluminum foil. The
LM-TENG exhibits both energy harvesting capabilities, with an output
voltage of 22.29 V and power generation of 55.16 μW, and remarkable
electrothermal properties, reaching a temperature of 69.02℃ when
subjected to an applied voltage of 1.5 V. The device demonstrates
resilience against mechanical shocks, excellent anti-impact properties
against sharp object penetrations, and potential applications as an
13
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
intelligent medical plaster, signifying its suitability for future wearable
electronics, healthcare, and safeguarding solutions.
An improved sliding-mode TENG designed with a multilayered film
configuration, enhancing its output power capabilities was presented in
[198]. Through the integration of a high-resistance grounding method,
the impedance at maximum output power was effectively reduced from
3 MΩ to 0.6 MΩ, doubling the output power and the charging speed to a
capacitor. Leveraging these enhancements, the updated TENG was
successfully employed in an electrochemical water-splitting system,
where the necessary applied voltage for hydrogen production was
halved. An innovative approach for creating a liquid metal (LM) pattern
on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate using contact printing has
been developed. This technique relies on adhesive forces between in­
terfaces. Through the formation of a new oxide layer, the LM film is
efficiently transferred from one mold to another, resulting in a pattern
with excellent electrical conductivity, measured at 1.93 × 106 S/m,
making it suitable for use as an electrode. The resulting semi-transparent
LM electrode exhibits outstanding performance in a TENG, showcasing
its potential for applications in advanced wearable electronics [199]. A
sedimented liquid metal (SLM) elastomer composite designed for TENGs
is introduced, with a focus on energy harvesting from human movement,
making it ideal for soft and stretchable electronics. The SLM-TENG ex­
hibits impressive characteristics, including extremely high stretchability
(over 500% strain), compliance similar to human skin (modulus below
60 kPa), and exceptional durability (surviving more than 10,000 cycles).
It achieves a peak power density of 1 mW/cm2. When applied in
wearable forms such as knee patches and exercise clothing, the
SLM-TENG can convert running motion into sufficient energy to power a
wearable hygro-thermometer with a digital display. This demonstrates
its potential in the field of wearable electronics and opens up possibil­
ities for improving performance and exploring broader applications
[200].
An innovative multi-scale metal mesh electrode (MME) TENG has
been developed, specifically designed for energy harvesting and human
motion monitoring in wearable electronics. The MME is created using a
controllable alloying-dealloying method, significantly enhancing the
contacting surface area. This enhancement results in an impressive
TENG output voltage of 175.77 V at a 4 Hz frequency, which is four
times higher than what a traditional copper film electrode can achieve.
Importantly, the structure’s adaptability to gas flow makes it highly
suitable for respiratory monitoring in healthcare applications, show­
casing its potential in self-powered wearable electronics for healthcare
monitoring and intelligent sensor systems [201]. A self-powered wear­
able sensor, drawing inspiration from shark-skin and employing a TENG,
has been developed for real-time gait analysis. This sensor is especially
valuable for individuals with neuromuscular disorders. It features a
biomimetic microstructure resembling shark skin on an Ecoflex surface,
providing exceptional sensitivity and durability. Notably, it can accu­
rately distinguish gait signals originating from different muscle groups,
a validation supported by MRI imagery. This innovative sensor holds
great promise for a wide range of applications, including the diagnosis of
neuromuscular conditions like Parkinson’s disease, post-surgical reha­
bilitation monitoring, and seamless integration with IoT-enabled smart
wearable devices [202].
Cellulose, the most abundant biopolymer on Earth, holds immense
sustainability potential and offers outstanding performance character­
istics crucial for the advancement of smart sensing systems. In recent
times, there has been a growing interest in cellulose materials for
TENGs, and their performance has shown notable improvements [94,
203–205]. The newly developed cellulose-based triboelectric material
displayed remarkable sensitivity and stability, proving its effectiveness
in self-powered sensing across a broad humidity spectrum. Furthermore,
this research led to the creation of a respiratory monitoring system and a
non-contact human-machine interface capable of wirelessly trans­
mitting electrical signals, even in high humidity conditions. These ad­
vancements underscore the substantial potential for scalable
S. Li et al.
self-powered sensing applications [206].
Inspired by the structure of natural bamboo, this research presents a
novel "three-step" process for creating extensive triboelectric materials
featuring distinct nanostructures derived from bamboo. These bamboo-
based materials, combined with polyaniline, surpass the energy har­
vesting capabilities of the majority of wood fiber-based alternatives,
showcasing remarkable performance even in challenging conditions.
The environmentally conscious synthesis method used here introduces
an inventive pathway for producing eco-friendly triboelectric materials,
which has the potential to make substantial contributions to both
environmental sustainability and high-performance applications [207].
An innovative self-powered air filtration system, seamlessly integrated
into a face mask, has been introduced in [208]. This system harnesses
the power of respiration through a triboelectric nanogenerator
(R-TENG) to enable highly efficient submicron particle filtration and
real-time monitoring of respiratory functions. The filter is constructed
using a conductive cellulose aerogel/MOF composite, which remarkably
eliminates PM1.0, PM0.5, and PM0.3 particles at rates of 98.4%, 97.3%,
and 95.0%, respectively, all while maintaining minimal air pressure
resistance. This breakthrough holds significant potential for applications
in personal respiratory health monitoring, air purification, and medical
contexts, all without the need for an external power source. A tribo­
electric material based on cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) has been devel­
oped, featuring a layered structure designed to enhance self-powered
gas sensing capabilities. This modified structure utilizes triethoxy-1H,
1H,2H,2H-tridecafluoro-n-octylsilane cellulose nanofibers (PFO­
TES-CNF), resulting in improved adsorption properties. This advance­
ment enables rapid and precise detection and monitoring of ammonia
(NH3) concentrations within the range of 10–120 ppm. Additionally, the
system can wirelessly transmit real-time data to a user interface. These
findings open up promising avenues for creating high-performance
gas-sensitive materials and expanding their applications in scalable
gas sensing applications [209].
An innovative triboelectric material, known as chitosan/di-aldehyde
nanocrystalline cellulose (CDTM), has been developed using a combi­
nation of casting and hot-pressing techniques. This CDTM material ex­
hibits exceptional stability and efficiency, even in challenging
environmental conditions such as high humidity and temperature. The
strong chemical bond created between chitosan and di-aldehyde nano­
cellulose via the Schiff base reaction significantly enhances the mate­
rial’s internal cohesion. This results in superior electrical properties and
increased resilience against environmental disruptions. Furthermore,
the CDTM-based triboelectric nanogenerator (CD-TENG) derived from
this material holds promise for a wide range of applications in wireless
sensing for smart devices. Its adaptability is evident in its capability to
monitor stress intensity and motion states, highlighting its versatility
and potential impact [210]. A highly fire-resistant cellulosic triboelec­
tric material has been developed, and it demonstrates exceptional
resilience in high-temperature environments, owing to the protective
qualities of hydroxyapatite. This innovative material is a composite of
cellulose nanofibrils (CNF) and hydroxyapatite. Notably, even after
being exposed to a 500 ◦ C flame for 60 s, the CNF/hydroxyapatite
composite exhibited minimal deformation. Its distinctive structural
characteristics not only provide excellent fire resistance but also
enhance its triboelectric performance, surpassing the capabilities of
most cellulose-based materials. These advancements, characterized by
stable triboelectric properties and improved hydrophobic performance,
hold significant promise for various applications. They are particularly
relevant in the fields of energy harvesting and sensing under extreme
conditions, including the development of wearable self-powered sensors
and for use in fire rescue operations [211].
4. Numerical simulations of piezoelectric materials
Due to the emergence of nano electromechanical systems, significant
attention has been devoted to the research on the piezoelectric behavior
14
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
of piezoelectric materials at the nanoscale. One of the most critical
piezoelectric properties is the mechanical response of the piezoelectric
material under reinforcement at the atomic level [212]. Due to the di­
versity of structural types, the variation of external conditions and the
complexity of the external excitation environment, the analytical solu­
tion cannot be obtained. In that case, computational techniques such as
Finite element method (FEM), and Molecular dynamic (MD) are
perceived as more efficient approaches. These methods are regarded as
significant parts in the area of piezoelectric materials by virtue of simple
arithmetic and logical operations to solve complex numerical problems
in experiments, as well as to develop and evaluate methods for calcu­
lation of numerical results from finite data [213,214]. The core of
piezoelectric modeling is defining the material properties. For most
piezoelectric materials, their polarization direction is critical to the
signal output and thus is used to define its primary piezoelectric co­
efficients ([d11, d22, d33]-direct stresses, [d12. d13, d23]-shear stresses).
For piezoelectric materials, the coefficients can be expressed based on
the stretch direction. The PVDF ferroelectric phase is achieved by
stretching α-phase films at a suitable temperature to induce α to β-phase
transformation [215]. In conclusion, in the piezoelectric modeling, in
addition to defining material properties, it is also necessary to compre­
hensively consider many factors such as crystal structure parameters,
temperature effects, and the external environment of the actual prepa­
ration process, so as to establish an accurate and reliable piezoelectric
model.
4.1. Modelling using molecular dynamics: atomic to microscale
The primary benefit of using MD is its ability to directly analyze all
mechanical properties of nano-composition materials without devel­
oping additional behavioral equations [216–218]. Recently, the study of
piezoelectric properties of materials has utilized MD [219]. Since Alder
and Wainwright pioneered the MD method in 1957 [220], several sci­
entists have successfully expanded the theoretical, technical, and
application fields of MD. MD has also contributed greatly to the simu­
lation of piezoelectric materials. The mechanism of PVDF piezoelectric
behavior has been studied using the MD approach. The origin of the
piezoelectricity in PVDF crystalline polymers is mainly attributed to
dimensional effects, as modeled by the energy minimization approach in
molecular simulations [221]. The dielectric constant is an important
indicator of piezoelectric materials. MD simulation has proved that the
dielectric constant of PVDF is temperature dependent, with significant
amplitude changes around the glass transition temperature [222]. PVDF
thin films have excellent mechanical and piezoelectric properties. Their
piezoelectric response is highly dependent on their initial fabrication
process due to crystalline β − to α − phase ratios. Besides, it is known
from MD verification that PVDF-ZnO system can enhance the piezo­
electric effect at 5–7 wt% ZnO concentration [223]. Appealed to good
mechanical properties and soft physical properties, PVDF is applied on
spacecraft. However, the presence of atomic oxygen collisions in
near-Earth orbit will lead to the degradation of PVDF, which is found by
MD model analysis to be because PVDF has weak anti-erosion perfor­
mance. The stability of PVDF can be improved by introducing FP-POSS
into PVDF matrices [224]. Fig. 9a shows some research on the piezo­
electric properties of PVDF using MD.
MD method and the atomic-level simulation method can effectively
describe the piezoelectric and ferroelectric behaviors of PZT materials
respectively. PZT is the product of lead titanate (PT) and lead zirconate
(PZ) after melting, cooling and solidification that differs significantly in
several properties compared to pure PT. Using MD modeling, it is
possible to calculate the ferroelectric hysteresis behavior and qualita­
tively and correctly compare the behavior of PT and PZT, including
spontaneous polarization, saturation polarization, and coercive fields
[225]. Similar to PVDF, PZT has a glass transition temperature. MD
modeling indicates that its glass transition temperature increases with
increasing PZT fiber content. This is because is the attractive interaction
S. Li et al.
Fig 9. Existing studies of material simulations using molecular dynamics. (a) Molecular dynamics simulations of PVDF [222–224]. (b) Molecular dynamics simu­
lations of PZT [225]. (c) Molecular dynamics simulations of piezoelectric crystal [226–228]. (d) Molecular dynamics simulations of piezoelectric compos­
ite [229–231].
between the epoxy resin and the PZT fibers, which limits the segmental
mobility of the polymeric macromolecular chains, so that the most
flexible samples have the lowest glass transition temperature [232].
Fig. 9b shows some piezoelectric effects of PZT based on MD method.
Several MD models have been studied in the context of a piezoelectric
crystal. Typically, two piezoelectric crystals are Zinc oxide (ZnO) and
Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs). ZnO nanowires (NMs) and nanobelts
(NBs) can converts mechanical strain energy into electrical energy. MD
has some limitations in predicting the piezoelectric response of ZnO
materials. It was found that for electrostatic interactions in piezoelectric
responses still needs to be improved [226]. BNNTs is also an attractive
piezoelectric crystal. Using a classical MD model to study multi-walled
boron nitride nanotubes’ piezoelectric and elastic properties. It was
demonstrated that nanotubes with an odd or even number of wall layers
exhibit significant differences in piezoelectric response [227,228].
15
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
Fig. 9c shows MD of ZnO NBs and BNNTs.
For piezoelectric composites, MD method is also a powerful tool to
illustrate its high sensitivity, wide frequency response range, versatility,
tunability and other properties. MD modeling has investigated that
hybrid structured nanogenerators composed of PVDF and ZnO nano­
composites exhibit better power output performance compared to PVDF
alone. This can be attributed to the increased total atomic stress distri­
bution at the interface between the two materials [229]. When the
polymer contains PVDF and magnetite, the addition of tri-iron tetroxide
Fe3O4 causes α- to β- transition in the polymer [230]. Polymer-ceramic
piezoelectric composites are popular for the combination of
high-voltage electrical and mechanical flexibility. MD has also been
utilized to assess intermolecularly anchored interfacial coupling mech­
anisms, leading to the development of high-performance piezoelectric
composites for wearable electronics [231]. Fig. 9d shows the MD
S. Li et al.
simulations of PVDF and ZnO nanocomposites, the polarization of PVDF
polymer film on the Ti3C2(OH)2, and the diagram of the phase transition
of PVDF by Fe3O4.
4.2. Modelling using finite element method: meso- to macroscale
Finite element analysis simulates real physical systems by mathe­
matical approximations under geometric and loading conditions. Finite
elements are an accurate and flexible means of engineering analysis due
to their ability to handle complex shapes. Therefore, it is attractive to
simulate electromagnetic and electromechanical sensors and acquisi­
tions with this method [233]. Finite element methods were first used for
analyzing piezoelectric material in 1970 [234]. Since then, it has pro­
vided reliable results in analyzing intelligent materials, such as piezo­
electric ceramics [235]. In addition, Huang et al. utilized the finite
element method to establish three different (digital twin) DT-FEM
microstructure models to simulate the piezoelectric effect of thin films
[236]. Butt et al. developed an analytical model of a piezoelectric energy
collector and carried out numerical simulation through the finite
element method. Then, determine the effect of frequency and load on
lead zirconate titanate (PZT-5A) piezoelectric materials [237]. Howev­
er, the finite element method to convert physical problems in piezo­
electric materials into limited trace elements for numerical calculation,
and the calculation process is highly dependent on the precision of the
divided grid, so it is difficult to model and process the complex micro­
structure of piezoelectric materials, which limits the in-depth under­
standing of the mechanism of piezoelectric materials at the microscopic
scale [238]. Therefore, the finite element method mainly focuses on
studying mesoscale and macroscale. FEM is mostly applied on mesoscale
and macroscale for analyzing material. ‘Mesoscale’ is induced based on
the boundary value problem for materials with disordered microstruc­
tures. On the mesoscale, George.S et al. analyzed microstructural models
and obtain statistical data like probability distributions on the extended
finite element method (XFEM) and Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) are
used to determine the composite properties at different mesoscale sizes
[239]. The interaction between ultrasonic waves and fiber-reinforced
composites with voids was investigated on a mesoscale using FE
methods and a mesoscale model of the composite with voids was
developed using DIGIMAT-FE software [240]. The principle of finite
element analysis implies that it enables simulation from mesoscale to
macroscale. . However, for the piezoelectric materials, there are a
limited number of papers available that discuss the use of finite element
methods in relevant applications. Most finite element methods for
piezoelectric materials are applied at the macroscopic level. In FEA,
coupled field analysis can be used to solve interactions between different
physical phenomena. The piezoelectric effect results from the interac­
tion between mechanical stress and electrical charge in a material. The
liner piezoelectric coupling equation is as follows:
{T} = [c]{S} − [e]{E} (4)
and
{D} = [e]T {S} + [ε]{E} (5)
where{T} - stress vector, {S} - mechanical strain, {E} - electric field
intensity vector, [c]-stiffness tensor evaluated at constant electric field,
[e]-piezoelectric tensor, [ε]-the dielectric tensor evaluated at constant
mechanical strain [241].
There have been many studies using finite element modeling
methods to analyze PVDF properties. A finite element simulation is a
powerful tool for studying material deformation and various mechanical
fields such as stresses and strains. It assists. with determination of the
material strain during tensile testing of PVDF specimens and inferring
the mechanical properties [242]. PVDF films are often used in smart
devices such as sensors, but friction between the PVDF film and the
contact part is inevitable when the device is in use. This may cause the
16
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
sensitivity of PVDF components to decrease or even fail. To address such
a problem, an adaptive finite element method to simulate tangential
frictional wear of PVDF piezoelectric films has been developed [243].
Polar polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofibers are a kind of artificially
developed material, which is specifically designed for wearable devices
capable of collecting energy from the mechanical movement of the
human. Finite element method was carried out to assess the piezoelec­
tric characteristics of the material, simulate and optimize PVDF nano­
fiber integrated nanogenerator foam (PNIF), for example, shoe insole, to
achieve the maximum efficiency of the energy collector when walking
[244]. Fig. 10a shows finite element modeling of PVDF.
For PZT, FEM has also been applied in combination to analyze the
characteristics of high sensitivity, wide temperature range, excellent
mechanical stability and other characteristics. For example, micro-
accelerometers made with (PZT) films have attracted a lot of attention
due to their potential high sensitivity, where the effect of the static and
dynamic behavior of micro-accelerometers on the thickness of PZT films
can be investigated using finite element methods [250]. In the appli­
cation of piezoelectric transformers, the use of PZT rings can provide a
stronger electromechanical coupling effect in the radial direction. In
addition, the dynamic behavior of PZT ring in resonance can be studied
by establishing a three-dimensional finite element model [245]. Fig. 10b
shows finite element modeling of PZT. Quartz, is the most widely used
class of piezoelectric crystal materials. Its piezoelectric effect can be
modeled by a 3D finite element method using the commercial ANSYS
software package to solve this problem from a microstructural
perspective [251]. An important application of quartz crystals is the
fabrication of multichannel quartz crystal microbalance (MQCM) de­
vices are used as sensors to detect tiny changes in mass in the field of
engineering. FEM offered a precise and user-friendly approach for
analyzing and designing multichannel quartz crystal microbalances
[246]. Barium titanate crystal is another piezoelectric crystal with a
high dielectric constant, which can be used to prepare polycrystalline
piezoelectric ceramics. FEM was found to be able to optimize the
microstructure of barium titanate crystal to maximize its macrostructure
piezoelectric response [247]. Fig. 10c shows some research on the
piezoelectricity of quartz and barium titanate crystals.
Applied to piezoelectric composites, finite element analysis can
effectively solve the problem of piezoelectric effect. Among various
ways to make piezoelectric composite materials is radial bonding, which
is mostly used for piezoelectric composite fibers. For instance, embed­
ding metal cores in PZT hollow fibers can improve the mechanical
properties and the piezoelectric properties of PZT complex core mate­
rials. A composite material consisting of a metal core and piezoelectric
fiber embedded in an epoxy resin matrix was developed. The piezo­
electric effect was analyzed using finite element modeling [248]. There
is also a sandwich method for making piezoelectric load beams. Using
ANSYS or COMSOL package, the deformation and piezoelectric response
of piezoelectric composite layer beams can be simulated to compare the
composite effect of different piezoelectric materials [249]. Fig. 10d
shows the FMA modeling of Pt-core PZT fiber and cantilever composite
beam.
After analyzing the mentioned literature, it is evident that numerical
simulations have become indispensable and efficient in simulating the
behavior of piezoelectric materials. Meanwhile, experimental validation
is essential in evaluating the piezoelectric performance of materials and
aiding in designing materials for piezoelectric technologies. Table 2
shows a summary of studies, differentiating between those with and
without experimental validations.
The basic idea and means of FEM applied to the above four piezo­
electric materials are the same, i.e., they all partition the solid object
into finite elements of different sizes and types and convert the system
into a mathematical model to solve for the relevant parameters. How­
ever, there are differences in the process of specific simulation, and these
differences mainly come from the variations in the nature and applica­
tion of the materials. For example, in finite element analysis, PVDF
S. Li et al. Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092

Fig 10. Existing studies of material simulations using FEM. (a) FEM simulations of PVDF [243]. (b) FEM simulations of PZT [245]. (c) FEM simulations of piezo­
electric crystal [246,247]. (d) FEM simulations of piezoelectric composite [248,249].

material, which is relatively soft and commonly used as piezoelectric
film, is usually used as the simulation unit for finite element selection
because PVDF film can generate work by force deformation [256,257].
And for other less flexible piezoelectric materials such as PZT, finite
element analysis is generally a solid unit as the unit of study [254].
When the analysis unit is selected, the setting of the material constants is
the basis of the subsequent analysis, the material constants are not set
accurately, and the finite element analysis results are unlikely to be
correct. On the setting of material constants, take ANSYS software for
piezoelectric material analysis as an example: for piezoelectric com­
posites, it is generally assumed that both piezoelectric and polymer
phase materials are elastomers, and in the linear elastic range, there is a
linear correlation between stress and strain components, which con­
forms to the generalized Hooke law. In the Cartesian coordinate system,

17
S. Li et al.
Table 2
Simulations with and without experimental validations.
Numerical Simulation without Experimental
Validation
Numerical Simulation with Experimental Validation
Reference Simulation Goals
[235] The effectiveness of piezoelectric
ceramics in suppressing the vibration of
conical shell structures
[240] Verify the stretchability of nano-
composite films with improved
piezoelectric properties at low nano-filler
concentration
[242] Determine the piezoelectric properties of
PVDF nanofibers
[243] Precision of the tangential fretting wear of
PVDF piezoelectric thin films
[244] Determine the piezoelectric constant
[247] Gain insight into the crystal morphology
and to evaluate the purity of the material
[249] Elaborate the displacement and
corresponding charges generated by each
pixel upon applying forces
[254] Simulates mechanical stresses generated
by the contact of a ceramic element with a
concave counterpart
[255] Analyze the failure procedure of radially
aligned ZnO enhanced single fiber
composites (SFC) under tensile loading
Fig 11. Other numerical modeling methods. (a) Flow chart of the calculation steps using multiscale method [260]. (b) Result with linear and nonlinear piezoelectric
tensors from density function method [261]. (c)Schematic diagram of the solution algorithm using generalized finite difference method [262,263].
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
this relationship can be expressed as or = C, where the strain matrix is r,
the stress matrix is o, and S and C are n × n matrices. Each element Sij
[223,227,229,231,232, and Cij (i,j = 1,2,… n) represents the elastic properties of homogeneous
246,250,252,253] elastomers, usually called Sij is the flexibility coefficient, Cij is the
stiffness coefficient, for homogeneous elastomers, they are called the
elastic constant. The stiffness coefficient is the inverse matrix of the
Agree with
Experimental Tests
flexibility coefficient, that is, C=S− 1, or S=C− 1 [258]. For piezoelectric
ceramics PZT, it is equipped with transverse isotropism after the po­
larization, which means at each point we can find a certain mutually
✓
parallel isotropic surface, and an elastic symmetry axis of the elastomer
✓ [259].
4.3. Other numerical modelling methods
✓
There are other numerical modeling methods to evaluate piezo­
✓ electric materials, such as multiscale simulations, density function the­
ory (DFT), and generated finite difference method (GFDM). The
multiscale simulation combines MD, FM, and quantum mechanics (QM).
✓
✓
Processes involving crack extension and fracture in materials occur at
✓ multiple length scales, from atomic to macroscopic, and in highly
nonlinear regions. For this reason, combining quantum mechanical
calculations with MD simulations, using finite element methods to
✓
handle them, creates multiscale algorithms [260]. Fig. 11(a) shows
multiscale simulations embed the atomic model into the continuous
✓ medium model and use the MD method to calculate the tiny region of
our interest, while the other regions are calculated using the continuous
medium mechanic’s method (mostly finite elements methods), which
reduces the amount of computational work required while also
18
S. Li et al.
expanding the computational scope [255].
DFT is a suitable quantum method to study electronic systems and
molecular solids. DFT assumes that the physical properties of the elec­
tron density determine the ground state of a multi-particle system.,
which means that the total energy can be expressed as a generalized
function of electron density. Fig. 11(b) shows an example of the relation
of the piezoelectric tensor expressed by the density function. In DFT-
based atomic simulations, the calculation of the total energy of the
system relies heavily on the electron density. Properties such as elec­
tronic structure and lattice dynamics can be explored at the quantum
mechanical level. Multiple two-dimensional piezoelectric materials
have had their piezoelectric coefficients calculated using DFT recently,
e.g., group III–V semiconductors, metal dichalcogenides, and metal ox­
ides [264]. And the geometry, electronic band structure,
phonon-dispersion relationship, and dielectric properties of piezoelec­
tric crystal e.g., ZnO can also be explored using DFT [265]. The
second-order piezoelectric tensor of semiconductor materials in
response to crystal deformation was calculated using density general­
ized function theory [261]
Thin plate structures play a crucial role in mechanical industries.
There is a classical meshing method the finite element method which has
been widely utilized in numerical analysis of plate deformation in the
situation of dynamic loading. Meshless methods have become increas­
ingly popular for dynamic simulation of plate bending problems because
they do not require generating meshes in recent years [252,266]. Fig. 11
(c) present the basic calculating process, there is a new meshless nu­
merical discretization method generalized finite difference method,
which involves using a multivariate Taylor series expansion technique
and fitting the results using weighted least squares., eliminating the
traditional finite difference method’s reliance on the network. [267]
GFDM uses a node distribution to approximate the problem domain. In
complex geometries or large deformations, this can save a lot of CPU
time and simplify the process of re-gridding. Extending the meshless
GFDM method to numerical solutions of coupled electrical and me­
chanical equations controlling piezoelectric problems [262]. Through it,
multiple piezoelectric inclusions under in-plane electric field and
negative shear problems can be solved [253].
5. Numerical simulations of triboelectric materials and devices
5.1. Numerical simulations of triboelectric materials
To date, extensive research has been conducted to improve the
performance of technologies based on triboelectricity., spanning various
facets such as system design [268,269] and circuit design [270,271].
Notably, there has been a growing emphasis on material design and
optimization for triboelectric-based technologies, which includes gain­
ing a deeper understanding of the electrification mechanism [102,272,
273] and optimizing contact surfaces [274,275] among other factors.
The commonly considered parameters for numerical simulations of
triboelectric materials are summarized in Table 3. In the majority of
these studies, numerical simulations have proven to be valuable and
efficient tools for assessing the triboelectric performance of materials
Table 3
Simulation parameters for triboelectric materials.
Simulation Parameters for Triboelectric Materials
No. Parameter Reference
01 Surface Charge Density [276–281]
02 Length and Width of Dielectric Films [276,277,280–283]
03 Thickness [276,277,280–283]
04 External Load Resistance [282–284]
05 Relative Permittivity [277,281,283]
06 Poisson’s Ratio [280,283,285]
07 Young’s Modulus [280,283,285]
19
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
and supporting the design of materials for triboelectric-based technol­
ogies. This section will provide a comprehensive review of numerical
investigations pertaining to triboelectric materials, categorized into two
main groups: MD modeling and finite element modeling.
5.1.1. Modelling using molecular dynamics
The phenomenon of electrostatic charge transfer occurring when two
material surfaces come into contact has been a subject of study for de­
cades, driven by the quest to comprehend its underlying mechanisms.
This seemingly straightforward phenomenon presents numerous un­
predictable challenges due to the intricate and unstable dynamics
involved in contact charging. Several factors can influence charge
transfer, including material properties, particle size, morphology, and
environmental conditions [286]. In response to these challenges, nu­
merical simulations employing MD have emerged as an efficient
approach for gaining deeper insights into the tribo-charging mechanism
across various scenarios [287–293]. MD modelling has been utilized to
investigate the effects of surface microstructures [294,295]. Micro­
structures are an important part on material surfaces in generating,
collecting, and preserving triboelectric charges, ultimately shaping the
electrical performance of TENGs. Xi et al. [296] conducted a numerical
simulation study, highlighting how these surface microstructures impact
capacitance variations and, consequently, the electronic output of
contact-separation TENGs. They underscored the significance of capac­
itance variation in influencing TENG output.
Material microstructure has been recognized as a factor that in­
fluences the direction of charge transfer during triboelectric charging.
MD simulations were employed to analyze the charges generated by
microstructure deformation, which revealed the formation of voids at
the nano- and microscale due to strain, leading to distinct triboelectric
charging behavior [297], as shown in Fig. 12a. First-principles calcu­
lations were utilized to investigate the Al-polyethylene (PE) TENG pair
and the impact of humidity on the electron transfer process at their
interface, as depicted in Fig. 12b. The findings indicated that the pres­
ence of hydrogen bonds made water molecules act as electron donors,
with the number of transferred charges being closely linked to the
number of electron donors [298]. Furthermore, a lubricant layer within
the TENG system was explored, serving as a substrate for liquid trans­
port, optical transmission, and efficient charge transfer, as shown in
Fig. 12c. MD simulations emulated this TENG setup with a lubricant
layer, revealing intriguing charge transparency behavior similar to
graphene’s wetting transparency and van der Waals potential trans­
parency [299]. Wu et al. delved into the contact electrification and
charge transfer mechanisms between amorphous polymers and metals,
specifically polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyimide (Kapton).
Their study unveiled that the electron acceptor in PET and Kapton
consistently corresponded to the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital
(LUMO), providing guidance for potential chemical modifications of
triboelectric materials [103].
5.1.2. Modelling using finite element method
Finite Element Methods (FEM) have gained widespread acceptance
across diverse fields for their efficiency in predicting performance out­
comes. In recent decades, their popularity has surged in tribo-materials
simulations due to their reliability and ability to replicate intricate ge­
ometries [300]. A plethora of studies have leveraged FEM approaches to
quantify and enhance the triboelectric performance of materials. A novel
dynamic FEM model is introduced in [300]. By utilizing air buffer layers
and the moving mesh method, this model effectively solves topology
changes during movement. It allows for simulating complex 2D/3D
geometries and dynamic behaviors in TENGs, as shown in Fig. 13a. A
study was conducted to optimize air buffer thickness and mesh density,
and results were consistent with experimental data and other methods.
Additionally, the model’s versatility is highlighted as it successfully
simulates a three-dimensional disk like rotating TENG, showcasing its
capabilities and advantages. Furthermore, the dynamic (FEM) Finite
S. Li et al.
Fig 12. Molecular Dynamics modelling method for triboelectric materials. (a) Molecular dynamics simulations for charges in microstructure resulting from
deformation [297]. (b) Molecular dynamics simulations were employed to investigate how humidity affects the electron transfer process between metal and
amorphous polymer [298]. (c) Molecular dynamics simulation to mimic the TENG with a lubricant layer [299]. (d) Molecular dynamics simulations were utilized to
study contact electrification and the mechanism of charge transfer between metal and amorphous polymer [103].
Element Method model is utilized to optimize the shape of the
tribo-material, which serves as a preliminary example to demonstrate
the potential of designing sensors based on TENG. A study performed by
Vasandani et al. [301] As part of the investigation, we looked into the
overall effects of various structural parameters, including area, gap, and
dielectric thickness, on TENG output using Finite Element simulations.
They used the surface charge density obtained from the experimental
results as the boundary conditions for the finite element simulation. A
triboelectric nanogenerator with a temperature differential design has
been created and manufactured to boost its electrical output efficiency
in elevated temperature conditions by Cheng et al. [302]. In this study,
numerical simulations within COMSOL have been carried out to quan­
tify the connection between the change of temperature and the short
circuits transfer charge density, as shown in Fig. 13b.
To gain a deeper understanding of TENG, the researchers conducted
investigations involving electrical modeling using lumped-elements and
multiphysics simulations, building on prior electret generator research,
as presented in Fig. 13c. They specifically addressed TENG’s unique
characteristics by experimentally measuring the triboelectric effect’s
amplitude on perfluoroalkoxy alkane films. This approach enabled a
comprehensive simulation of T-ENG, with the model proving consistent
with experimental findings [303]. Shafeek et al. [305] involves an
exhaustive computational and numerical analysis of specific pairs of
triboelectric materials selected from the triboelectric series. Utilizing
COMSOL Multiphysics, they conducted computational simulations to
assess the device’s output performance in terms of Voc and Qsc. Addi­
tionally, numerical simulations are carried out using MatLab to evaluate
current, power, and voltage output as functions of time, considering
various input parameters. The reliability of the numerical model is
established through experimental validation, demonstrating its utility as
a versatile tool for characterizing the output characteristics of various
triboelectric material combinations. Dai et al. [306] investigated the
optimization of TENG by considering the impact of parasitic capaci­
tance. Parasitic capacitance is a factor known to significantly degrade
TENG performance by finite element simulations, the research identifies
the ideal values for key structural parameters, including gap and elec­
trode length, across different TENG working modes while systematically
20
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
accounting for variations caused by parasitic capacitance. Additionally,
the study demonstrates how parasitic capacitance can increase the
height tolerance of metal TENGs operating in freestanding mode.
Various scanning probe microscopy techniques such as AFM, KPFM,
and EFM, along with finite element modeling (FEM), are utilized to
analyze turbocharger patterns and produce a patent model that explains
how they are shaped by the morphology of the interfacial nanotexture.
The study shows that the key factor in determining the distribution
pattern of turbocharge is the cumulative distance of tangential sliding of
elastomer during interfacial separation. Kim et al. [98] presents a new
approach to TENGs by using a serrated electrode is a type of electrode
that operates in a low-frequency contact-separation mode. This TENG,
called Serrated Electrode-based TENG (SE-TENG), is capable of creating
an ultrahigh power output that can directly power high-voltage devices
without the need of external power sources. Xi et al. conducted a nu­
merical simulation study using the planar capacitor analytical method to
investigate the electrical output performance of the contact separation
(CS) triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). They found that when the
microstructure size exceeds ten micrometers, it is more accurate to
utilize the ratio of the actual contact area to the change in capacitance
for predicting the open circuit output voltage of the TENG instead of
solely relying on the contact area [307]. This study harnessed finite
element simulations in COMSOL software to study the phenomenon of
spark discharge between the zigzag electrode and the wire, which was
employed to enhance triboelectric nanogenerator performance, as
shown in Fig. 13d. Wang et al. [308] proposed the use of extremely long
grating patterns with high aspect ratios to amplify TENG output effi­
ciency. Finite element modeling was employed to compare electric
output differences between nanograting patterns and flat surfaces,
affirming substantial enhancements in TENG outputs with nanograting
patterns. Chu et al. [309] introduced universal formulas for
contact-separation TENGs under arbitrary charging conditions, and they
employed finite element modeling to simulate various scenario combi­
nations, validating the feasibility of their proposed formulas. Chen et al.
[304] proposed a novel design of triboelectric mechanical meta­
materials (TMMs) featuring distance-changing, angle-changing and
mixed modes as shown in Fig. 13e. Finite element simulations were
S. Li et al. Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092

Fig 13. Finite Element modelling method for triboelectric materials. (a) A novel dynamic finite element method (FEM) model for simulation of dynamic and time-
varying behaviors in triboelectric nanogenerators [296]. (b) FEM simulations to quantify the relationship between the change of temperature and the short-circuit
transfer charge density [302]. (c) FEM simulation for electrostatic potential distribution at the middle of the TENG at different time [303]. (d) FEM simulation to
investigate the spark discharge phenomenon between a serrated electrode and metal wire [98]. (e) FEM simulation electric potential and the experimental defor­
mation modes at a compressive strain for curved architected materials [304].

conducted to model nonlinear geometric deformations, variations in

Table 4
electric potential within deformed domains, and the transfer of charges
Simulations with and without experimental validations.
within a circuit. Choi et al. [310] presents an innovative wind-driven
triboelectric nanogenerator (WTENG) designed for efficient omnidirec­ Numerical Simulation without Experimental [103,293,295,296,298,
Validation 300,301,306,309]
tional wind energy harvesting. Numerical simulations and experiments
confirm the critical role of the vane’s design and the structural param­ Numerical Simulation with Experimental Validation
eters of the rolling cylinder in determining device performance. Reference Simulation Goals Agree with Experimental
Upon reviewing the aforementioned literatures, it becomes evident Tests
that numerical simulations have become invaluable and efficient tools in [297] Effects of material microstructure on ✓
simulating triboelectric materials. Simultaneously, experimental vali­ triboelectric charging behavior
dation plays a crucial role in assessing the triboelectric performance of [299] Potential difference and charge transfer ✓
[302] Optimal temperature for TENG output
materials and assisting in the design of materials for triboelectric-based ✓
performance
technologies. Table 4 presents a summary of studies, differentiating [303] Amplitude of the triboelectric effect on ✓
between those with and without experimental validations. perfluoroalkoxy alkane films
[305] Triboelectricity generation ✓
[98] Electric field distribution ✓
5.2. Numerical simulations of triboelectric devices [308] Triboelectric potential difference ✓
between contact surfaces
As research in triboelectrification-related fields has advanced [304] Electrical potential ✓
rapidly, a diverse array of applications based on the triboelectric phe­ [310] Electrical potential difference between ✓
two electrodes
nomenon has emerged in recent years. These applications span a wide
spectrum, including medical devices [311,312], wearable sensors
[313–315], and engineering sensors [316–318], among others.

21
S. Li et al.
Considering the insights gained from existing studies, numerical simu­
lation has emerged as a pivotal tool in in designing and optimizing
performance for various triboelectric applications. This section will
provide a comprehensive review of numerical simulations employed in
different triboelectric electrical devices. These simulations are catego­
rized based on their operational conditions, focusing primarily on
vibration-induced energy harvesting and sensing, compression- and
stretching-induced energy harvesting and sensing, and other relevant
scenarios.
5.2.1. Vibration induced energy harvesting and sensing
Vibration represents one of the most common mechanical phenom­
ena encountered in our daily lives, and it can lead to significant tribo­
electrification. Over recent years, the domains of vibration energy
harvesting and sensing have garnered substantial attention. Research
efforts have focused on efficiently harnessing energy from diverse
sources [319], including structural vibrations [320,321], human
movements [194], and waves [322]. Mehamud et al. [276] pioneered
the creation of a vibration sensor based on the TENG concept, designed
for machine condition monitoring across a broad frequency range. Nu­
merical simulations played a pivotal role in optimizing the sensor’s
structural design, as shown in Fig. 14a. These simulations revealed that
the frequency detection range could be controlled through geometric
adjustments. Zhu et al. [323] introduced a hybrid electromagnetic
generator (EMG) and triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) for
wide-bandwidth frequency energy harvesting. Numerical simulations
were instrumental in analyzing the dynamic responses of this hybrid
EMG-TENG system, aligning closely with experimental results. Yuan
et al. [324] presented a novel metamaterial-inspired triboelectric
nanogenerator (META-TENG) designed for structural vibration mitiga­
tion and monitoring as shown in Fig. 14b. Numerical simulations were
conducted to assess the dynamic performance of the META-TENG and
Fig 14. Numerical simulations of triboelectric devices. (a) TENG-based vibration sensors for machine condition detection [276]. (b) Metamaterial-inspired tribo­
electric nanogenerator structural vibration mitigation and monitoring [324]. (c) High-resolution touch sensor array with scalable features with compression induced
energy harvesting and sensing [330].
22
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
determine its bandgap range. Saadatnia et al. [122] innovatively com­
bined triboelectric (TENG) and electromagnetic (EMG) generator con­
cepts to create a hybrid water wave energy harvester. This design was
thoroughly evaluated through extensive numerical simulations to assess
its feasibility, demonstrating its capacity to charge storage units, illu­
minate light-emitting diodes, and power sensors. Yu et al. [325] pro­
posed a droplet capacitor for harvesting low-level energy from
mechanical excitations. Numerical simulations were employed to assess
the energy harvesting capabilities of the device under varying resistive
load levels, revealing a slight increase in energy output with higher
resistance. This innovative capacitor was capable of illuminating 30
LEDs. Wang et al. [326] designed a wave-driven TENG system with a
contact-separation mode to harness energy from tidal waves generated
by surface water movement. Comprehensive numerical simulations
assessed the system’s performance under various fluid dynamic condi­
tions, showcasing its ability to charge a 47 μF capacitor sustainably to
reach 0.496 V within a minute. Luo et al. [327] introduced a vibration
energy harvester inspired by the double-wing flying mechanism.
Various factors, including vibration frequency, amplitude, and link
length, were studied. Numerical simulations were employed to analyze
the dynamic responses, and the results were validated through experi­
mental tests, confirming the harvester’s viability for low-frequency vi­
bration energy harvesting. Li et al. [71] presented an optimization
scheme to enhance the efficiency of vibration-to-electrical energy con­
version for a bouncing ball triboelectric nanogenerator (BB-TENG).
Numerical simulations conducted in COMSOL elucidated the electrical
distribution within the BB-TENG and verified the reliability of its power
generation principle. Jiao et al. [328] developed a freestanding mag­
netic capsule triboelectric nanogenerator (MC-TENG) for harvesting
energy from mechanical excitations. Numerical studies conducted in
COMSOL and Ansys Maxwell evaluated the performance of the proposed
MC-TENG. Wang et al. [329] integrated TENG systems were integrated
S. Li et al.
into wind barriers for harvesting energy and sensing wind speed. Nu­
merical simulations were used to calculate the electrostatic field distri­
bution of the integrated TENG systems.
5.2.2. Compression and stretching induced energy harvesting and sensing
The development of electrical devices as energy harvesters and
sensors for compression or stretching loading scenarios has ushered in a
new era of versatile applications. These devices not only extract energy
from compression or stretching but also serve as active sensors for
condition monitoring, including pressure, strain, stress, and more. To
facilitate the design and optimization of such devices, numerical
modeling is frequently employed to simulate various loading scenarios.
For instance, Venugopal et al. [331] engineered a wearable sensor based
on TENG technology for blood pressure measurement. The design and
numerical simulation processes leveraged a 3D model within COMSOL
Multiphysics software. This study explored the impact of geometry,
material properties, and meshing methods, affirming the feasibility of
TENG-based sensors for measuring human biological signals. Nazar et al.
[332] introduced a magnetic lifting Triboelectric Nanogenerator
(ml-TENG) designed for both energy harvesting and active sensing.
Numerical simulations were a crucial component of this study, serving
to validate the proposed ml-TENG’s feasibility and compare the results
with experimental data. Sun et al. [333] innovatively designed a
stretchable strain sensor by integrating a single-electrode mode TENG
system into hydrogels, opening up applications in wearable devices and
human health monitoring. Numerical simulations conducted using
ANSYS quantified the electrical output of the proposed sensor,
enhancing its potential for various applications. Goh et al. [334]
developed a wearable and stretchable pressure sensor based on the
microfluidic triboelectric principle. The study employed numerical
simulations within COMSOL to quantify the liquid-solid electrification
behavior of the proposed device, providing valuable insights into its
performance characteristics. Zhu et al. [330] proposed a high-resolution
touch sensor array with scalable features. Numerical simulations carried
out in COMSOL were instrumental in understanding the impacts of
structural data on the electrical result performance as shown in Fig. 14c.
This investigation revealed that a well-defined boundary played a
pivotal role in achieving high-resolution mapping capabilities for the
sensor array.
5.2.3. Other excitation induced energy harvesting and sensing
In addition to the well-explored domains of vibration, compression,
and stretching-induced triboelectric devices, a diverse array of electrical
devices has been developed based on other excitation-induced tribo­
electrification mechanisms, broadening the horizons of this innovative
technology. Two noteworthy examples are rotation [335] and
sliding-induced [269] triboelectric devices. Liu et al. [336] devised a
sensor designed to detect wear debris in artificial joints, utilizing the
freestanding mode of TENG. To assess the sensitivity of these sensors
under various debris distribution scenarios, Finite Element Analysis
(FEA) was deployed. Furthermore, the FEA method was instrumental in
investigating the effects of debris size on the electrical output, providing
critical insights into the sensor’s performance characteristics. Wang
et al. [337] drew inspiration from yoyo balls to create an energy
harvester based on the freestanding TENG mode, specifically for
biomechanical energy harvesting. Numerical simulations and
time-frequency analyses were conducted to unravel the intricate rela­
tionship between the output voltage and rotor speeds. Optimizing the
performance of the proposed energy harvester was achieved through
pivotal simulations. In another innovative application, Wang et al. [338]
conducted numerical analysis and structure optimization for cylindrical
grating structured TENG systems. Machine learning methods were
employed to analyze the numerical simulation data, leading to the
identification of optimal grating numbers and average output voltages.
This approach demonstrated the potential of combining numerical
simulations with advanced data analysis techniques to improve the
23
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
performance of triboelectric systems [339]. A new sensor called
High-Resolution Triboelectrification-Induced Electroluminescence
(HR-TIEL) has been developed. It is specifically designed to visualize the
dynamic contact profile trajectories. Numerical simulations were
executed to investigate the electrical potential distributions of the
HR-TIEL sensors, shedding light on their operational characteristics and
capabilities. Kuang et al. [340] embarked on the development of a
self-powered data storage system based on the sliding tribo­
electrification phenomenon. Through numerical simulations conducted
in COMSOL, they explored the potential data storage density of the
system. Remarkably, the simulations revealed a maximum density of up
to 38.2 Gbit per square inch, showcasing the promising prospects of
sliding-induced triboelectric applications in data storage.
In addition to the respective application developments of piezo­
electric and triboelectric technologies, the combination of the two can
also improve the efficiency and applicability of devices that collect
mechanical energy, such as piezoelectric and triboelectric hybrid
nanogenerators (NGs), which have been frequently proposed in recent
years, combine the characteristics of both technologies to collect me­
chanical energy from the environment more efficiently. Mengdi Han and
others have demonstrated that the device can be used as a power source
for consumer electronics, integrating it into a keyboard. Capable of
harvesting energy during typing [341], the combination of TENG and
PENG will provide a large amount of energy conversion under
low-frequency mechanical propulsion, which can be fully applied in the
healthcare field to monitor patients’ vital signs and other physiological
signs and facilitate the diagnostic process [342]. NGs also integrate
transparency, flexibility, and stretchability, including flexible stretch­
able Micropatterning P (VDF-TrFE), Research on PDMS composite
structure piezoelectric NGs and triboelectric NGs based on graphene and
hydrophobic sponge structure [343]. Huidrom et al. selected ZnO-PVDF
material as part of the triboelectric contact material and combined the
electromagnetic, triboelectric, and piezoelectric effects to produce a
hybrid generator. To collect energy from mechanical vibrations [344].
Overall, the future combination of piezoelectric and triboelectric tech­
nologies will drive significant advances in the efficiency and applica­
bility of power generation devices for energy harvesting. With further
research and technological advances, we expect to see more innovations
and applications to introduce this hybrid technology into various fields
and contribute to sustainable energy development
6. Current progress and future trends
Numerical modeling methods have proven to be indispensable for
the analysis of materials in many studies. The five numerical methods
mentioned in previous sub-sections are making important contributions
to materials analysis. These five methods have been utilized continu­
ously to the field of piezoelectric materials, and there is a correlation
between them. When a method is widely used, its shortcomings found in
the process of application lead to the improvement and innovation of
new methods to compensate. Density function theory has had an
unparalleled impact on the application of quantum mechanics to
chemical physics problems, but there are development challenges. The
currently used generalized functions have not succeeded for certain
important problems, such as the off-domain and static correlation errors
[345,346]. It can only handle tens or hundreds of atoms, making it not
feasible to study larger nanomaterials [347]. While the number of atoms
that can be studied in MD can reach tens of thousands. MD simulations
continue to make important contributions to the fundamental under­
standing of the atomic-level behavior of materials under various pro­
cessing conditions [348]. Although MD and finite element methods
provide effective simulations for property analysis of piezoelectric ma­
terials, they still have some limitations and shortcomings. The finite
element method requires large computational costs to obtain the reso­
nance characteristics of the system over a frequency range. And it’s
challenging to construct an accurate numerical model of complicated
S. Li et al.
piezoelectric materials under practical situations such as anisotropic
behaviors, which makes both methods limited. It can also reflect the
direction of development of modeling methods from the five methods
above.
The cross-fertilization of multiple numerical methods is a promising
way to complement the research scale and compensate for the short­
comings of a single method, achieving advantages such as optimization
of algorithms and reduction of computational costs. The multiscale
method is exactly an example of absorption of FE, MD and QM. With
continued developments in simulation technology and the increasing
power of computing resources, the field of materials analysis is poised
for significant advancements. In particular, multi-scale simulations will
play a vital role in exploring materials properties at different temporal
and spatial scales, leading to a more comprehensive understanding of
their fundamental behaviors. Additionally, there is a growing trend to­
wards developing materials with multiple functionalities, driving the
need for clever combinations of digital and analog technologies in ma­
terials design and synthesis. The emerging multi-functional materials
promise to offer exciting novel opportunities in various fields.
7. Conclusions
In this review, we addressed the issue of lack of review article on the
existing numerical studies of piezoelectricity and triboelectricity and
comprehensively discussed the current status and future trends of nu­
merical simulation methods on typical piezoelectric and triboelectric
materials from materials, structures to devices at the different levels.
Discussions were particularly provided on the PVDF, PZT, piezoelectric
single crystal and composites in the piezoelectric family, and the poly­
mers (e.g., PTFE and FEP, cellulose materials, and metallic materials in
the triboelectric series. Two main directions of numerical simulations of
piezoelectric and triboelectric materials were described as the MD
modeling from the atomic to the microscale, and the finite element (FE)
modeling from the mesoscopic to the macroscale. MD simulation
method can effectively describe the piezoelectric behavior of piezo­
electric materials, and is also a powerful tool to explain the high sensi­
tivity, wide frequency response range, tunability and other properties of
piezoelectric composites and some triboelectric materials. It makes an
important contribution to the basic understanding of the atomic
behavior of piezoelectric or triboelectric materials under various pro­
cessing conditions. The FE method can quantify and enhance the
triboelectric properties of materials, optimize the shape of triboelectric
materials, and serve as an initial example to illustrate the potential of
sensor design based on the TENG in a large number of studies. However,
the MD and finite element methods still have some limitations and
shortcomings, as the former is more sensitive to the selection of meshes.
The latter requires a lot of computational costs to obtain the resonant
characteristics of the system in a certain frequency range. Building ac­
curate numerical models of complex piezoelectric materials in real-
world situations such as anisotropic behavior is challenging, which
limits both approaches. In addition, we discussed the three numerical
simulations of multiscale simulation method, density function theory
(DFT) and generalized finite difference (FD) method. Density function
theory has had an unparalleled impact on the application of quantum
mechanics to problems in chemical physics, but there are also devel­
opment challenges. The generalized functions currently used do not
succeed in some important problems, such as out-of-domain and stati­
cally dependent errors. It can only handle tens or hundreds of atoms, so
it can’t study larger nanomaterials. Eventually, we discussed the
development trends of numerically investigating piezoelectricity and
triboelectricity in terms of the advantages and disadvantages of the
discussed five numerical methods.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Shengquan Li: . Xingyu Tang: Data curation, Formal analysis,
24
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
Visualization, Writing – original draft. Wenwen Guo: Data curation,
Formal analysis, Visualization, Writing – original draft. Yu Li: Data
curation, Formal analysis, Validation, Writing – original draft. Dajiang
Chen: Data curation, Validation, Writing – original draft. Junbo Zhang:
Data curation, Validation, Writing – original draft. Qiang Zhang: Data
curation, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft. Haibo Xu: Data
curation, Visualization, Writing – original draft. Xiaotian Zhou: Data
curation, Visualization, Writing – original draft. Zhe Wan: Data cura­
tion, Formal analysis, Visualization, Writing – original draft. Roshira
Premadasa: Data curation, Formal analysis, Visualization, Writing –
original draft. Hongfei Lu: Data curation, Formal analysis, Visualiza­
tion, Writing – original draft. Qianyun Zhang: Conceptualization, Su­
pervision, Writing – review & editing. Hadi Salehi: Conceptualization,
Supervision, Writing – review & editing. Pengcheng Jiao: Conceptu­
alization, Funding acquisition, Supervision, Writing – review & editing.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
Acknowledgements
This study is supported in part by the National Key R&D Program of
China (2023YFC3008100), the Key Research and Development Plan of
Zhejiang, China (2021C03180 & 2021C03181), the Key-Area Research
and Development Program of Guangdong Province
(2021B0707030002), the Science Fsssoundation of Donghai Laboratory
(DH-2022KF01004), and the Laboratory of Yangjiang Offshore Wind
Power, (no. YJOWP-OF-2022A11).
References
[1] P. Jiao, Emerging artificial intelligence in piezoelectric and triboelectric
nanogenerators, Nano Energy 88 (2021) 106227.
[2] A. Behera, Piezoelectric materials, Adv. Mater.: Introduction Mod. Mater. Sci.
(2022) 43–76.
[3] W. Wu, Z. Wang, Piezotronics and piezo-phototronics for adaptive electronics and
optoelectronics, Nat. Rev. Mater. 1 (7) (2016) 1–17.
[4] P. Jiao, Mechanical energy metamaterials in interstellar travel, Prog. Mater. Sci.
137 (2023) 101132.
[5] S.D. Mahapatra, P.C. Mohapatra, A.I. Aria, G. Christie, Y.K. Mishra, S. Hofmann,
V.K. Thakur, Piezoelectric materials for energy harvesting and sensing
applications: roadmap for future smart materials, Adv. Sci. 8 (17) (2021)
2100864.
[6] S. Wang, Q. Li, Design, synthesis and processing of PVDF-based dielectric
polymers, IET Nanodielectr. 1 (2) (2018) 80–91.
[7] E. Ghafari, X. Jiang, L. Na, Surface morphology and beta-phase formation of
single polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composite nanofiber, Adv. Compos. Hybrid
Mater. 1 (2011) 332–340.
[8] M. Al-Furaiji, J.T. Arena, J. Ren, N. Benes, A. Nijmeijer, J.R. McCutcheon, Triple-
layer nanofiber membranes for treating high salinity brines using direct contact
membrane distillation, Membranes 9 (5) (2019) 60.
[9] Z. An, L. Huang, J. Zhao, Q. Hu, Z. Sun, H. Zheng, High performance laminated
FEP/PTFE piezoelectret films for air-borne sound transducers, Acta Phys. Sin. 71
(2) (2022) 027701.
[10] K. Uchino, Chapter 1 - the development of piezoelectric materials and the new
perspective. Advanced Piezoelectric Materials, (Second Edition), 2017, pp. 1–92.
[11] T. Zaman, M.K. Islam, M.A. Rahman, A. Hussain, M.A. Matin, M.S. Rahman,
Mono and co-substitution of Sr2+ and Ca2+ on the structural, electrical and
optical properties of barium titanate ceramics, Ceram. Int. 45 (8) (2019)
10154–10162.
[12] X. Yu, Y. Hou, M. Zheng, M.K. Zhu, Multiscale heterogeneity strategy in
piezoceramics for enhanced energy harvesting performances, ACS Appl. Mater.
Interfaces 13 (15) (2019) 17800–17808.
[13] L. Shi, P. Wu, L. Yu, et al., Enhanced piezoelectric properties and phase transition
in PZT ceramics induced by Li+-Sm3+ionic pairs, Ceram. Int. 48 (7) (2022)
10024–10030.
S. Li et al.
[14] X. Guan, H. Chen, H. Xia, Y. Fu, J. Yao, Q. Ni, Flexible energy harvester based on
aligned PZT/SMPU nanofibers and shape memory effect for curved sensors,
Compos. Pt. B-Eng. 197 (2020) 108169.
[15] M.D. Nguyen, E.P. Houwman, M. Dekkers, G. Rijnders, Strongly enhanced
piezoelectric response in lead zirconate titanate films with vertically aligned
columnar grains, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 9 (11) (2017) 9849–9861.
[16] W. Liu, L. Cheng, S. Li, Prospective of (BaCa)(ZrTi)O3 lead-free piezoelectric
ceramics, Crystals 9 (3) (2019) 179.
[17] Y. Zhang, M. Wu, Q. Zhu, F. Wang, H. Su, H. Li, C. Diao, H. Zheng, Y. Wu, Z.
L. Wang, Performance enhancement of flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator via
doping and rational 3D structure design for self-powered mechanosensational
system, Adv. Funct. Mater. 29 (42) (2019) 1904259.
[18] J. Hao, W. Li, J. Zhai, H. Chen, Progress in high-strain perovskite piezoelectric
ceramics, Mater. Sci. Eng. R-Rep. 135 (2019) 1–57.
[19] F. Li, S. Zhang, D. Damjanovic, L. Chen, R.S. Thomas, Local structural
heterogeneity and electromechanical responses of ferroelectrics: learning from
relaxor ferroelectrics, Adv. Funct. Mater. 28 (37) (2018) 1801504.
[20] B. Moorthy, C. Baek, J.E. Wang, C.K. Jeong, S. Moon, K.I. Park, D.K. Kim,
Piezoelectric energy harvesting from a PMN–PT single nanowire, RSC Adv. 7 (1)
(2017) 260–265.
[21] T. Stevenson, D.G. Martin, P.I. Cowin, A. Blumfield, A.J. Bell, T.P. Comyn, P.
M. Weaver, Piezoelectric materials for high temperature transducers and
actuators, J. Mater. Sci.-Mater. Electron. 26 (2015) 9256–9267.
[22] Y. Li, Z. Çelik-Butler, D.P. Butler, An integrated piezoelectric zinc oxide nanowire
micro-energy harvester, Nano Energy 26 (2016) 456–465.
[23] J. Sun, L. Guo, X. Sun, J. Zhang, L. Hou, L. Li, S. Yang, C. Yuan, One-dimensional
nanostructured pseudocapacitive materials: design, synthesis and applications in
supercapacitors, Batteries Supercaps 2 (10) (2019) 820–841.
[24] X. Liang, S. Hu, S. Shen, Nanoscale mechanical energy harvesting using
piezoelectricity and flexoelectricity, Smart Mater. Struct. 26 (3) (2017) 035050.
[25] D.Y. Hyeon, K.I. Park, Piezoelectric flexible energy harvester based on BaTiO3
thin film enabled by exfoliating the mica substrate, Energy Technol. 7 (10) (2019)
1900638.
[26] Y. Calahorra, B. Spiridon, A. Wineman, T. Busolo, P. Griffin, P.K. Szewczyk,
T. Zhu, Q. Jing, R. Oliver, S. Kar-Narayan, Enhanced piezoelectricity and
electromechanical efficiency in semiconducting GaN due to nanoscale porosity,
Appl. Mater. Today 21 (2020) 100858.
[27] X. Niu, W. Jia, S. Qian, et al., High-performance PZT-based stretchable
piezoelectric nanogenerator, ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. 7 (1) (2018) 979–985.
[28] W. Deng, T. Yang, L. Jin, et al., Cowpea-structured PVDF/ZnO nanofibers based
flexible self-powered piezoelectric bending motion sensor towards remote control
of gestures, Nano Energy 55 (2019) 516–525.
[29] L. Zheng, L. Yang, Y. Li, X. Lu, D. Huo, W. Lü, R. Zhang, B. Yang, W. Cao, Origin of
improvement in mechanical quality factor in acceptor-doped relaxor-based
ferroelectric single crystals, Phys. Rev. Appl. 9 (6) (2018) 064028.
[30] Z. Xu, J. Yan, M. Xu, et al., Integration of oxide semiconductor thin films with
relaxor-based ferroelectric single crystals with large reversible and nonvolatile
modulation of electronic properties, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 10 (38) (2018)
32809–32817.
[31] Q. Yue, D. Liu, J. Deng, X. Zhao, D. Lin, W. Di, X. Li, W. Wang, X. Wang, H. Luo,
Design and fabrication of relaxor-ferroelectric single crystal PIN–PMN–PT/epoxy
2–2 composite based array transducer, Sens. Actuat. A-Phys. 234 (2015) 34–42.
[32] L. Li, J. Xu, J. Liu, F. Gao, Recent progress on piezoelectric energy harvesting:
structures and materials, Adv. Compos. Hybrid Mater. 1 (3) (2018) 478–505.
[33] X. Chen, J. Sun, B. Guo, Y. Wang, S. Yu, W. Wang, J. Bai, Effect of the particle size
on the performance of BaTiO3 piezoelectric ceramics produced by additive
manufacturing, Ceram. Int. 48 (1) (2022) 1285–1292.
[34] Y. Wang, T. Yanaseko, H. Kurita, H. Sato, H. Asanuma, F. Narita,
Electromechanical response and residual thermal stress of metal-core
piezoelectric fiber/Al matrix composites, Sensors 20 (20) (2020) 5799.
[35] C.K. Jeong, Toward bioimplantable and biocompatible flexible energy harvesters
using piezoelectric ceramic materials, MRS Commun. 10 (3) (2020) 365–378.
[36] P. Saxena, P. Shukla, A comprehensive review on fundamental properties and
applications of poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), Adv. Compos. Hybrid Mater. 4
(2021) 8–26.
[37] J. Wu, X. Wu, W. Wang, Q. Wang, X. Zhou, Y. Liu, B. Guo, Dense PVDF-type
polymer-in-ceramic electrolytes for solid state lithium batteries, RSC Adv. 10 (38)
(2020) 22417–22421.
[38] E.J. Curry, T.T. Le, R. Das, et al., Biodegradable nanofiber-based piezoelectric
transducer, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A 117 (1) (2020) 214–220.
[39] U. Yaqoob, R.M. Habibur, M. Sheeraz, H.C. Kim, Realization of self-poled, high
performance, flexible piezoelectric energy harvester by employing PDMS-rGO as
sandwich layer between P (VDF-TrFE)-PMN-PT composite sheets, Compos. Pt. B-
Eng. 159 (2019) 259–268.
[40] K. Gherab, Y.A. Douri, U. Hashim, M. Ameri, A. Bouhemadou, K.M. Batoo, S.
F. Adil, K. Mujeeb, E.H. Raslan, Fabrication and characterizations of Al
nanoparticles doped ZnO nanostructures-based integrated electrochemical
biosensor, J. Mater. Res. Technol-JMRT 9 (1) (2020) 857–867.
[41] H.H. Singh, S. Singh, N. Khare, Enhanced β-phase in PVDF polymer
nanocomposite and its application for nanogenerator, Polym. Adv. Technol. 29
(1) (2018) 143–150.
[42] S. Jiang, Y. Shen, S. Wang, Y. Zhi, B. Han, Properties of novel 0–3 PZT/silicone
resin flexible piezoelectric composites for ultrasonic guided wave sensor
applications, Front. Mater. 9 (2022) 958775.
25
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
[43] M.L. De Bellis, A. Bacigalupo, Auxetic behavior and acoustic properties of
microstructured piezoelectric strain sensors, Smart Mater. Struct. 26 (8) (2017)
085037.
[44] U.P. Verma, A.K. Mishra, M.N. Sinha, Do piezoelectric and piezomagnetic sensors
like, BaTio2, CoMnF2, CoF2felicitate propagation of electromagnetic signals
induced dweue to stress within subsurface of crust and hence display pre-seismic
signature’, Mater. Today: Proc. 39 (4) (2021) 1695–1700.
[45] L. Chen, H. Fan, Q. Li, Characterization of acceptor-doped (Ba, Ca)TiO3 “hard”
piezoelectric ceramics for high-power applications, Ceram. Int. 43 (7) (2017)
5579–5584.
[46] N. Jia, T. Wang, N. Li, Z. Ma, Y. Dang, C. Li, H. Du, F. Li, Z. Xu, Conformally large-
area single-crystal piezocomposites with high performance for acoustic
transducers, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces (2023).
[47] X. Gao, J. Yang, J. Wu, X. Xin, Z. Li, X. Yuan, X. Shen, S. Dong, Piezoelectric
actuators and motors: materials, designs, and applications, Adv. Mater. Technol.
5 (1) (2020) 1900716.
[48] M. Promsawat, K.U. Boonsri, S. Samadoloh, N. Promsawat, E. Kalkornsurapranee,
Effects of poling on electrical properties of flexible piezoelectric composites with
natural rubber matrix, in: IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and
Engineering, 2019. Vol. 553.
[49] A. Carter, K. Popowski, K. Cheng, A. Greenbaum, F.S. Ligler, A. Moatti,
Enhancement of bone regeneration through the converse piezoelectric effect, a
novel approach for applying mechanical stimulation, Bioelectricity 3 (4) (2021)
255–271.
[50] Y. Saigusa, Quartz-based piezoelectric materials, Sustain. Energ. Fuels (2017)
197–233.
[51] L.Z. Kou, W.L. Guo, C. Li, Piezoelectricity of ZnO and its nanostructures, in: 2008
Symposium on Piezoelectricity, Acoustic Waves, and Device Applications, IEEE,
2008, pp. 354–359.
[52] Z. Wang, On the first principle theory of nanogenerators from Maxwell’s
equations, Nano Energy 68 (2020) 104272.
[53] Y. Zhou, S. Wang, Y. Yang, G. Zhu, S. Niu, Z. Lin, Y. Liu, Z. Wang, Manipulating
nanoscale contact electrification by an applied electric field, Nano Lett. 14 (3)
(2014) 1567–1572.
[54] C. Xu, B. Zhang, A. Wang, et al., Contact-electrification between two identical
materials: curvature effect, ACS Nano 13 (2) (2019) 2034–2041.
[55] C. Xu, A.C. Wang, H. Zou, et al., Raising the working temperature of a
triboelectric nanogenerator by quenching down electron thermionic emission in
contact-electrification, Adv. Mater. 30 (38) (2018).
[56] Z. Wang, Triboelectric nanogenerators as new energy technology and self-
powered sensors – principles, problems and perspectives, Faraday Discuss 176
(2014).
[57] Y. Zi, Z. Wang, Nanogenerators: an emerging technology, APL Mater. 5 (7) (2017)
074103.
[58] J. Henniker, Triboelectricity in polymers, Nature 196 (1962) 474.
[59] Y. Zi, S. Niu, J. Wang, Z. Wen, W. Tang, Z. Wang, Standards and figure-of-merits
for quantifying the performance of triboelectric nanogenerators, Nat. Commun. 6
(2015) 8376.
[60] K. Barri, P. Jiao, Q. Zhang, J. Chen, Z.L. Wang, A.H. Alavi, Multifunctional meta-
tribomaterial nanogenerators for energy harvesting and active sensing, Nano
Energy 86 (2021) 106074.
[61] M.W. Williams, The dependence of triboelectric charging of polymers on their
chemical compositions, J. Macromol. Sci.-Rev. Macromol. Chem. Phys. 14 (2)
(2006) 251–265.
[62] J.H. Clint, T.S. Dunstan, Acid-base components of solid surfaces and the
triboelectric series, EPL 54 (2001) 320–322.
[63] X. Zheng, R. Zhang, H. Huang, Theoretical modeling of relative humidity on
contact electrification of sand particles, Sci. Rep. 4 (2014) 4399.
[64] C. Xu, Y. Zi, A. Wang, et al., On the electron-transfer mechanism in the contact-
electrification effect, Adv. Mater. 30 (15) (2018) 1706790.
[65] F. Galembeck, T.A. Burgo, L.B. Balestrin, R.F. Gouveia, C.A. Silva, A. Galembeck,
Friction, tribochemistry and triboelectricity: recent progress and perspectives,
RSC Adv. 4 (109) (2014) 64280–64298.
[66] J.H. Lee, R. Hinchet, S.K. Kim, S. Kim, S.W. Kim, Shape memory polymer-based
self-healing triboelectric nanogenerator, Energy Environ. Sci. 8 (2015)
3605–3613.
[67] R.G. Horn, D.T. Smith, A. Grabbe, Contact electrification induced by monolayer
modification of a surface and relation to acid-base interactions, Nature 366
(1993) 442–443.
[68] C. Xu, A. Wang, H. Zou, B. Zhang, et al., Raising the working temperature of a
triboelectric nanogenerator by quenching down electron thermionic emission in
contact-electrification, Adv. Mater. 30 (38) (2018) 1803968.
[69] A.F. Diaz, R.M. Felix-Navarro, A semi-quantitative tribo-electric series for
polymeric materials: the influence of chemical structure and properties,
J. Electro. 62 (2004) 277–290.
[70] J. Zhang, S. Ciampi, The position of solid carbon dioxide in the triboelectric
series, Aust. J. Chem. 72 (2019) 8.
[71] X. Zhang, L. Chen, Y. Jiang, W. Lim, S. Soh, Rationalizing the triboelectric series
of polymers, Chem. Mat. 31 (2019) 1473–1478.
[72] H. Zou, Y. Zhang, L. Guo, et al., Quantifying the triboelectric series, Nat.
Commun. 10 (2019) 1427.
[73] R. Zhang, H. Olin, Material choices for triboelectric nanogenerators: a critical
review, EcoMat 2 (4) (2020).
[74] N. Wang, J. Zou, Y. Yang, X. Li, Y. Guo, C. Jiang, X. Jia, X. Cao, Kelp-inspired
biomimetic triboelectric nanogenerator boosts wave energy harvesting, Nano
Energy 55 (2019) 541–547.
S. Li et al.
[75] L. Zhang, B. Zhang, J. Chen, L. Jin, W. Deng, J. Tang, H. Zhang, H. Pan, M. Zhu,
W. Yang, Z.L. Wang, Lawn structured triboelectric nanogenerators for scavenging
sweeping wind energy on rooftops, Adv. Mater. 28 (2016) 1650–1656.
[76] X. Xiao, X. Zhang, S. Wang, H. Ouyang, P. Chen, L. Song, H. Yuan, Y. Ji, P. Wang,
Z. Li, M. Xu, Z.L. Wang, Honeycomb structure inspired triboelectric
nanogenerator for highly effective vibration energy harvesting and self-powered
engine condition monitoring, Adv. Energy Mater. 9 (2019) 1902460.
[77] V.T. Bui, J.H. Oh, J.N. Kim, Q. Zhou, I.K. Oh, Nest-inspired nanosponge-Cu woven
mesh hybrid for ultrastable and high-power triboelectric nanogenerator, Nano
Energy 71 (2020) 104561.
[78] H. Chen, Y. Song, H. Guo, L. Miao, X. Chen, Z. Su, H. Zhang, Hybrid porous micro
structured finger skin inspired self-powered electronic skin system for pressure
sensing and sliding detection, Nano Energy 51 (2018) 496–503.
[79] X. Pu, M. Liu, X. Chen, J. Sun, C. Du, Y. Zhang, J. Zhai, W. Hu, Z.L. Wang,
Ultrastretchable, transparent triboelectric nanogenerator as electronic skin for
biomechanical energy harvesting and tactile sensing, Sci. Adv. 3 (2017) 1700015.
[80] X. Wang, Y. Yin, F. Yi, K. Dai, S. Niu, Y. Han, Y. Zhang, Z. You, Bioinspired
stretchable triboelectric nanogenerator as energy-harvesting skin for self-
powered electronics, Nano Energy 39 (2017) 429–436.
[81] V.T. Bui, Q. Zhou, J.N. Kim, J.H. Oh, K.W. Han, H.S. Choi, S.W. Kim, I.K. Oh,
Treefrog toe pad-inspired micropatterning for high-power triboelectric
nanogenerator, Adv. Funct. Mater. 29 (2019) 1901638. Article.
[82] D. Yoo, S.-C. Park, S. Lee, J.-Y. Sim, I. Song, D. Choi, H. Lim, D.S. Kim, Biomimetic
anti-reflective triboelectric nanogenerator for concurrent harvesting of solar and
raindrop energies, Nano Energy 57 (2019) 424–431.
[83] C. Zhang, Z. Zhao, O. Yang, W. Yuan, L. Zhou, X. Yin, L. Liu, Y. Li, Z.L. Wang,
J. Wang, Bionicn-structured triboelectric nanogenerators for undersea energy
harvesting, Adv. Mater. Technol. (2020) 2000531.
[84] K. Sotthewes, H.J. Gardeniers, G. Desmet, I.S. Jimidar, Triboelectric charging of
particles, an ongoing matter: from the early onset of planet formation to
assembling crystals, Acs Omega 7 (46) (2022) 41828–41839.
[85] J.H. Zhang, Y. Li, J. Du, X. Hao, Q. Wang, Bio-inspired hydrophobic/cancellous/
hydrophilic Trimurti PVDF mat-based wearable triboelectric nanogenerator
designed by self-assembly of electro-pore-creating, Nano Energy 61 (2019)
486–495.
[86] P. Jiao, H. Hasni, N. Lajnef, A.H. Alavi, Mechanical metamaterials piezoelectric
nanogenerator (MM-PENG): Design principle, modelling and performance, Mater.
Des. 187 (2020) 108214.
[87] H. Zou, L. Guo, H. Xue, et al., Quantifying and understanding the triboelectric
series of inorganic non-metallic materials, Nat. Commun. 11 (2020) 2093.
[88] P.E. Shaw, E.W. Leavey, Triboelectricity and friction. VII.—quantitative results
for metals and other solid elements, with silica, Math., Phys. Eng. Sci. 138 (836)
(1932) 502–514.
[89] W. Qian, W. Yang, Y. Zhang, C.R. Bowen, Y. Yang, Piezoelectric materials for
controlling electro-chemical processes, Nano-Micro Lett. 12 (2020) 1–39.
[90] P. Jiao, A. Matin Nazar, K.J.I. Egbe, K. Barri, A.H. Alavi, Magnetic capsulate
triboelectric nanogenerators, Sci. Rep. 12 (2022) 89.
[91] Y. Wu, Y. Ma, H. Zheng, S. Ramakrishna, Piezoelectric materials for flexible and
wearable electronics: a review, Mater. Des. 211 (2021) 110164.
[92] H. Zhang, Y. Huang, X. Du, Y. Yang, S. Li, D. Fan, X. Xiao, H. Mutsuda, P. Jiao,
Self-powered and self-sensing blue carbon ecosystems by hybrid fur triboelectric
nanogenerators (F-TENG), Nano Energy 119 (2023) 109091.
[93] Z. Lin, B. Zhang, H. Guo, Z. Wu, H. Zou, J. Yang, Z. Wang, Super-robust and
frequency-multiplied triboelectric nanogenerator for efficient harvesting water
and wind energy, Nano Energy 64 (2019) 103908.
[94] A. Matin Nazar, R. Mohsenian, A. Rayegani, M. Shadfar, P. Jiao, Skin-contact
triboelectric nanogenerator for energy harvesting and motion sensing: Principles,
challenges and perspectives, Biosens 13 (9) (2023) 872.
[95] P. Jiao, Y. Yang, K.J.I. Egbe, Z. He, Y. Lin, Mechanical metamaterials gyro-
structure piezoelectric nanogenerators for energy harvesting under quasi-static
excitations in ocean engineering, ACS Omega 6 (23) (2021) 15348–15360.
[96] K.J.I. Egbe, A. Matin Nazar, P. Jiao, Y. Yang, X. Ye, H. Wang, Vibrational turbine
piezoelectric nanogenerators for energy harvesting in multiphase flow fields,
Energy Rep 7 (2021) 6384–6393.
[97] M. Eugeni, H. Elahi, F. Fune, L. Lampani, F. Mastroddi, G.P. Romano,
P. Gaudenzi, Numerical and experimental investigation of piezoelectric energy
harvester based on flag-flutter, Aerosp. Sci. Technol. 97 (2020) 105634.
[98] J. Kim, H. Cho, M. Han, et al., Ultrahigh power output from triboelectric
nanogenerator based on serrated electrode via spark discharge, Adv. Energy
Mater. (2020).
[99] C.R. Weinberger, G.J. Tucker, Multiscale Materials Modeling for Nanomechanics.
Multiscale Materials Modeling for Nanomechanics, 2016.
[100] G. Li, Q. Li, W. Hao, J. Li, H. Guo, X. Zheng, C. Huang, Numerical calculation and
experimental investigation on optimization of bouncing ball triboelectric
nanogenerator, Nano Energy (2022).
[101] R. Cortes-Huerto, K. Kremer, R. Potestio, Communication: kirkwood-buff integrals
in the thermodynamic limit from small-sized molecular dynamics simulations,
Chem. Phys. 145 (14) (2016).
[102] T. Fadiji, C.J. Coetzee, T.M. Berry, A. Ambaw, U.L. Opara, The efficacy of finite
element analysis (FEA) as a design tool for food packaging: a review, Biosyst. Eng.
174 (2018) 20–40.
[103] J. Wu, X. Wang, H. Li, F. Wang, Y. Hu, First-principles investigations on the
contact electrification mechanism between metal and amorphous polymers for
triboelectric nanogenerators, Nano Energy 63 (2019) 103864.
26
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
[104] H.U. Taotao, H.U. Bingbing, Y. Yabin, The predicted dielectric constant of an
amorphous pvdf changing with temperature by molecular dynamics simulations,
Int. J. Electrochem. Sci. 13 (2018) 10088–10100.
[105] R. Bo, J. Liu, C. Wang, Y. Wang, P. He, Z. Han, Molecular dynamics simulation on
structure and dielectric permittivity of batio3/PVDF composites, Adv. Polym.
Technol. (2021) 9019580.
[106] M. Graf, M. Sepliarsky, R. Machado, M.G. Stachiotti, Dielectric and piezoelectric
properties of BiFeO3 from molecular dynamics simulations, Solid State Commun
218 (2015) 10–13.
[107] M.F. Alam, M.S. Rahman, Fracture mechanism of single and polycrystal silver
nanowire: computational study, Inter. J. Math. Trends Tech. 54 (2018) 471–476.
[108] W. Wang, Z. Pi, F. Lei, Y. Lu, Understanding the tensile behaviors of ultra-thin
ZnO nanowires via molecular dynamics simulations, AIP Adv. 6 (3) (2016).
[109] M.U. Khan, Z. Butt, H. Elahi, W. Asghar, Z. Abbas, M. Shoaib, M.A. Bashir,
Deflection of coupled elasticity–electrostatic bimorph PVDF material: theoretical,
FEM and experimental verification, Microsyst. Technol. 25 (2019) 3235–3242.
[110] Y. Sugimori, T. Miyata, H. Hashiguchi, E. Okunishi, T. Mizoguchi, Atomic-scale
investigation of the heterogeneous structure and ionic distribution in an ionic
liquid using scanning transmission electron microscopy, RSC Adv. 9 (19) (2019)
10520–10527.
[111] Y. Xiong, S. Zhang, C. Chen, Y. Zhang, Experiments and finite element analysis for
detecting the embedded defects in concrete using PZT transducers, Constr. Build.
Mater. 292 (2021) 123318.
[112] J.F. Lv, K. Yang, L. Sun, W.H. Chen, Y. Tan, Finite element analysis of
piezoelectric stack transducer embedded in asphalt pavement, in: Presented at the
Symposium on Piezoelectric and Acoustic Theory and Device Applications, 2015.
[113] Y. Wang, Y. Shi, F. Narita, Design and finite element simulation of metal-core
piezoelectric fiber/epoxy matrix composites for virus detection, Sens. Actuat. A-
Phys. 327 (2021) 112742.
[114] Z.T. Salim, U. Hashim, M.M. Arshad, ‘FEM modeling and simulation of a layered
SAW device based on ZnO/128◦ YX LiNbO3, in: presented at the IEEE
International Conference on Semiconductor Electronics (ICSE), 2016.
[115] C. Cheng, Z. Chen, H. Shi, Z. Liu, Y. Xiong, System-level coupled modeling of
piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting systems by joint finite element and
circuit analysis, Shock Vib. (2016) 2413578.
[116] J. Chen, Q. Wang, H. Wei, T. Meng, J. E., E. Leng, F. Zhang, G. Liao, Molecular
dynamic study on HTTP133958.
[117] S.S. Kwak, S. Kim, H. Ryu, J. Kim, U. Khan, H.J. Yoon, Y.H. Jeong, S.W. Kim,
Butylated melamine formaldehyde as a durable and highly positive friction layer
for stable, high output triboelectric nanogenerators, Energy Environ. Sci. 10
(2019).
[118] G. Agnello, R. Manley, N. Smith, W. LaCourse, A. Cormack, Triboelectric
properties of calcium aluminosilicate glass surfaces, Appl. Glass Sci. 9 (1) (2018)
3–15.
[119] J. Wu, X. Wang, H. Li, F. Wang, W. Yang, Y. Hu, Insights into the mechanism of
metal-polymer contact electrification for triboelectric nanogenerator via first-
principles investigations, Nano Energy 48 (2018) 607–616.
[120] Y. Li, G. Cheng, Z. Lin, J. Yang, L. Lin, Z. Wang, Single-electrode-based
rotationary triboelectric nanogenerator and its applications as self-powered
contact area and eccentric angle sensors, Nano Energy 11 (2015) 323–332.
[121] A. Wang, J. Chen, L. Wang, J. Han, W. Su, A. Li, P. Liu, L. Duan, C. Xu, Z. Zeng,
Numerical analysis and experimental study of an ocean wave tetrahedral
triboelectric nanogenerator, Appl. Energy (2021) 307.
[122] Z. Saadatnia, E. Esmailzadeh, H.E. Naguib, Design, simulation, and experimental
characterization of a heaving triboelectric-electromagnetic wave energy
harvester, Nano Energy 50 (2018) 281–290.
[123] K. Datta, R.B. Neder, J. Chen, J.C. Neuefeind, B. Mihailova, Atomic-level
structural correlations across the morphotropic phase boundary of a ferroelectric
solid solution: xBiMg1/2Ti1/2O3-(1− x) PbTiO3, Sci. Rep.. 7 (1) (2017) 1–11.
[124] L. Lu, W. Ding, J. Liu, B. Yang, Flexible PVDF based piezoelectric nanogenerators,
Nano Energy 78 (2020) 105251.
[125] Y. Xin, H. Tian, C. Guo, X. Li, H. Sun, P. Wang, J. Lin, S. Wang, C. Wang, PVDF
tactile sensors for detecting contact force and slip: a review, Ferroelectrics 504 (1)
(2016) 31–45.
[126] R.K. Mishra, A review on fracture mechanics in piezoelectric structures, Mater.
Today: Proc. 5 (2) (2018) 5407–5413.
[127] M.T. Chorsi, E.J. Curry, H.T. Chorsi, R. Das, J. Baroody, P.K. Purohit, H. Ilies, T.
D. Nguyen, Piezoelectric biomaterials for sensors and actuators, Adv. Mater. 31
(1) (2019) 1802084.
[128] S. Mohammadpourfazeli, S. Arash, A. Ansari, S. Yang, K. Mallick, R. Bagherzadeh,
Future prospects and recent developments of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)
piezoelectric polymer; fabrication methods, structure, and electro-mechanical
properties, RSC Adv. 13 (1) (2023) 370–387.
[129] H. Liu, J. Zhong, C. Lee, S.W. Lee, L. Lin, A comprehensive review on piezoelectric
energy harvesting technology: materials, mechanisms, and applications, Appl.
Phys. Rev. 5 (4) (2018) 041306.
[130] J.S. Heo, J. Eom, Y.H. Kim, S.K. Park, Recent progress of textile-based wearable
electronics: a comprehensive review of materials, devices, and applications, Small
14 (3) (2018) 1703034.
[131] X. Liu, J. Miao, Q. Fan, W. Zhang, X. Zuo, M. Tian, S. Zhu, X. Zhang, L. Qu, Recent
progress on smart fiber and textile based wearable strain sensors: materials,
fabrications and applications, Adv. Fiber Mater. 4 (3) (2022) 361–389.
[132] M. Xie, K. Hisano, M. Zhu, T. Toyoshi, M. Pan, S. Okada, C. Bowen, Flexible
multifunctional sensors for wearable and robotic applications, Adv. Mater.
Technol. 4 (3) (2019) 1800626.
S. Li et al.
[133] P. Jiao, K.J.I. Egbe, Y. Xie, A. Matin Nazar, A.H. Alavi, Piezoelectric sensing
techniques in structural health monitoring: a state-of-the-art review, MDPI 20
(13) (2020) 3730.
[134] J. Du, L. Qiu, C. Yang, H. Zheng, K. Zhu, L. Wang, Structure and electrical
properties in CuO-modified BCZT lead-free piezoelectric ceramics,
J. Electroceram. 49 (2022) 125–134.
[135] Z. Butt, R.A. Pasha, F. Qayyum, Z. Anjum, N. Ahmad, H. Elahi, Generation of
electrical energy using lead zirconate titanate (PZT-5A) piezoelectric material:
analytical, numerical and experimental verifications, J. Mech. Sci. Technol. 30
(2016) 3553–3558.
[136] A. Jain, K.J. Prashanth, A.K. Sharma, A. Jain, P.N. Rashmi, Dielectric and
piezoelectric properties of PVDF/PZT composites: a review, Polym. Eng. Sci. 55
(7) (2015) 1589–1616.
[137] M. Baniasadi, Z. Xu, J. Cai, S. Daryadel, M. Quevedo-Lopez, M. Naraghi,
M. Minary-Jolandan, Correlation of annealing temperature, morphology, and
electro-mechanical properties of electrospun piezoelectric nanofibers, Polymer
127 (2017) 192–202.
[138] H.C. Song, P. Kumar, D. Maurya, M.G. Kang, W.T. Reynolds, D.Y. Jeong, C.
Y. Kang, S. Priya, Ultra-low resonant piezoelectric mems energy harvester with
high power density, J. Microelectromech. Syst. 26 (6) (2017) 1226–1234.
[139] A. Khan, Z. Abas, H.S. Kim, I.K. Oh, Piezoelectric thin films: an integrated review
of transducers and energy harvesting, Smart Mater. Struct. 25 (5) (2016) 053002.
[140] Y. Feng, L. Ling, Y. Wang, Z. Xu, F. Cao, H. Li, Z. Bian, Engineering spherical lead
zirconate titanate to explore the essence of piezo-catalysis, Nano Energy 40
(2017) 481–486.
[141] S. Wang, Z. Wu, J. Chen, J. Ma, J. Ying, S. Cui, S. Yu, Y. Hu, J. Zhao, Y. Jia, Lead-
free sodium niobate nanowires with strong piezo-catalysis for dye wastewater
degradation, Ceram. Int. 45 (9) (2019) 11703–11708.
[142] E. Taghaddos, M. Hejazi, A. Safari, Lead-free piezoelectric materials and
ultrasonic transducers for medical imaging, J. Adv. Dielectr. 5 (02) (2015)
1530002.
[143] M.T. Ghoneim, M.A. Zidan, M.Y. Alnassar, A.N. Hanna, J. Kosel, K.N. Salama, M.
M. Hussain, Thin PZT-based ferroelectric capacitors on flexible silicon for
nonvolatile memory applications, Adv. Electron. Mater. 1 (6) (2015) 1500045.
[144] I. Kanno, Piezoelectric MEMS: ferroelectric thin films for MEMS applications, Jpn.
J. Appl. Phys. 57 (2018) 040101.
[145] S. Okamoto, P.S.S.R. Krishnan, S. Okamoto, S. Yokoyama, K. Akiyama,
H. Funakubo, In-plane orientation and composition dependences of crystal
structure and electrical properties of {100}-oriented Pb (Zr,Ti)O3 films grown on
(100) Si substrates by metal organic chemical vapor deposition, Jpn. J. Appl.
Phys. 56 (2017) 10PF12.
[146] A. Taabouche, A. Bouabellou, F. Kermiche, F. Hanini, C. Sedrati, Y. Bouachiba,
C. Benazzouz, Preparation and characterization of Al-doped ZnO piezoelectric
thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition, Ceram. Int. 42 (6) (2016) 6701–6706.
[147] P.P. Shi, Y.Y. Tang, P.F. Li, W.Q. Liao, Z.X. Wang, Q. Ye, R.G. Xiong, Symmetry
breaking in molecular ferroelectrics, Chem. Soc. Rev. 45 (14) (2016) 3811–3827.
[148] V. Annapureddy, M. Kim, H. Palneedi, et al., Low-loss piezoelectric single-crystal
fibers for enhanced magnetic energy harvesting with magnetoelectric composite,
Adv. Energy Mater. 6 (24) (2016) 1601244.
[149] C. Chen, X. Wang, Y. Wang, D. Yang, F. Yao, W. Zhang, B. Wang, G.A. Sewvandi,
D. Yang, D. Hu, Additive manufacturing of piezoelectric materials, Adv. Funct.
Mater. 30 (52) (2020) 2005141.
[150] J. Koruza, H. Liu, M. Höfling, M.H. Zhang, P. Veber, (K, Na) NbO3-based
piezoelectric single crystals: growth methods, properties, and applications,
J. Mater. Res. 35 (8) (2020) 990–1016.
[151] K. Uchino, Piezoelectric composite materials. Advanced Piezoelectric Materials,
2017, pp. 353–382.
[152] S. Zhang, F. Li, F. Yu, X. Jiang, H.Y. Lee, J. Luo, T.R. Shrout, Recent developments
in piezoelectric crystals, J. Korean Ceram. Soc. 55 (5) (2018) 419–439.
[153] D. Maurya, M. Peddigari, M.G. Kang, L.D. Geng, N. Sharpes, V. Annapureddy,
S. Priya, Lead-free piezoelectric materials and composites for high power density
energy harvesting, J. Mater. Res. 33 (16) (2018) 2235–2263.
[154] S. Hu, Z. Shi, W. Zhao, L. Wang, G. Yang, Multifunctional piezoelectric elastomer
composites for smart biomedical or wearable electronics, Compos. Pt. B-Eng. 160
(2019) 595–604.
[155] D. Upadrashta, Y. Yang, Experimental investigation of performance reliability of
macro fiber composite for piezoelectric energy harvesting applications, Sens.
Actuat. A-Phys. 244 (15) (2016) 223–232.
[156] K. Roy, S.K. Ghosh, A. Sultana, S. Garain, M. Xie, C.R. Bowen, K. Henkel,
D. Schmeiβer, D. Mandal, A self-powered wearable pressure sensor and
pyroelectric breathing sensor based on GO interfaced PVDF nanofibers, ACS Appl.
Nano Mater. 2 (4) (2019) 2013–2025.
[157] Y. Liu, L. Zhao, L. Wang, et al., Skin-integrated graphene-embedded lead
zirconate titanate rubber for energy harvesting and mechanical sensing, Adv.
Mater. Technol. 4 (12) (2019) 1900744.
[158] V. Kumar, R. Liu, R.R. Kinnick, A. Gregory, A. Alizad, M. Belohlavek, M. Fatemi,
Unambiguous identification and visualization of an acoustically active catheter by
ultrasound imaging in real time: theory, algorithm, and phantom experiments,
IEEE Trans. Biomed. Eng. 65 (7) (2017) 1468–1475.
[159] C. Wang, X. Li, H. Hu, et al., Monitoring of the central blood pressure waveform
via a conformal ultrasonic device, Nat. Biomed. Eng. 2 (9) (2018) 687–695.
[160] W.D. Lee, D.G. Jeong, J.H. Kim, H.S. Kim, G. Murillo, G.H. Lee, H.C. Song, J.
H. Jung, Polarization-controlled PVDF-based hybrid nanogenerator for an
effective vibrational energy harvesting from human foot, Nano Energy 76 (2020)
105066.
27
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
[161] Y. Lu, J. Chen, Z. Cheng, S. Zhang, The PZT/Ni unimorph magnetoelectric energy
harvester for wireless sensing applications, Energy Conv. Manag. 200 (2019)
112084.
[162] C.S. Park, Y.C. Shin, S.H. Jo, H. Yoon, W. Choi, B.D. Youn, M. Kim, Two-
dimensional octagonal phononic crystals for highly dense piezoelectric energy
harvesting, Nano Energy 57 (2019) 327–337.
[163] Z. Zhou, X. Du, J. Luo, L. Yao, Z. Zhang, H. Yang, Q. Zhang, Coupling of interface
effects and porous microstructures in translucent piezoelectric composites for
enhanced energy harvesting and sensing, Nano Energy 84 (2021) 105895.
[164] B. Bera, M.D. Sarkar, Piezoelectric effect, piezotronics and piezophototronics: a
review, IJIR 2 (11) (2016) 1407–1410.
[165] S. Niu, Y. Liu, S. Wang, L. Lin, Y. Zhou, Y. Hu, Z. Wang, Theory of sliding-mode
triboelectric nanogenerators, Adv. Mater. 25 (43) (2013) 6184–6193.
[166] S. Niu, Z. Wang, Theoretical systems of triboelectric nanogenerators, Nano Energy
14 (2014) 161–192.
[167] S. Wang, L. Lin, Z. Wang, Nanoscale triboelectric-effect-enabled energy
conversion for sustainably powering portable electronics, Nano Lett. 12 (12)
(2012) 6339–6346.
[168] G. Zhu, C. Pan, W. Guo, C. Chen, Y. Zhou, R. Yu, Z. Wang, Triboelectric-generator-
driven pulse electrodeposition for micropatterning, Nano Lett. 12 (9) (2012)
4960–4965.
[169] S. Niu, S. Wang, L. Lin, Y. Liu, Y. Zhou, Y. Hu, Z. Wang, Theoretical study of
contact-mode triboelectric nanogenerators as an effective power source, Energy
Environ. Sci. (2013) 12.
[170] T. Cheng, J. Shao, Z. Wang, Triboelectric nanogenerators, Nat. Rev. Method.
Prim. 3 (1) (2023) 39.
[171] A. Chen, C. Zhang, G. Zhu, Z. Wang, Polymer materials for high-performance
triboelectric nanogenerators, Adv. Sci. 7 (2020) 2000186.
[172] W. Wang, A. Yu, X. Liu, et al., Large-scale fabrication of robust textile triboelectric
nanogenerators, Nano Energy 71 (2020).
[173] P. Feng, Z. Xia, B. Sun, X. Jing, H. Li, X. Tao, H. Mi, Y. Liu, Enhancing the
performance of fabric-based triboelectric nanogenerators by structural and
chemical modification, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 13 (14) (2021) 16916–16927.
[174] J. Kaur, R.S. Sawhney, H. Singh, M. Singh, S.K. Godara, Scavenging mechanical
energy from human motions using novel-biomaterial-based triboelectric
nanogenerator, Phys. Status Solidi A-Appl. Res. 218 (18) (2021).
[175] B. Dudem, D.H. Kim, A.R. Mule, J.S. Yu, Enhanced performance of
microarchitectured PTFE-based triboelectric nanogenerator via simple thermal
imprinting lithography for self-powered electronics, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces
10 (28) (2018) 24181–24192.
[176] W. Paosangthong, M. Wagih, R. Torah, S. Beeby, Textile-based triboelectric
nanogenerator with alternating positive and negative freestanding woven
structure for harvesting sliding energy in all directions, Nano Energy 92 (2022).
[177] C. Zhang, B. Zhang, W. Yuan, O. Yang, Y. Liu, L. He, Z. Zhao, L. Zhou, J. Wang, Z.
L. Wang, Seawater-based triboelectric nanogenerators for marine anticorrosion,
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 14 (6) (2022) 8605–8612.
[178] R. Ouyang, Y. Huang, H. Ye, Z. Zhang, H. Xue, Copper particles-PTFE tube based
triboelectric nanogenerator for wave energy harvesting, Nano Energy (2022) 102.
[179] C. Chang, X. He, Z. Han, L. Pei, Z. Wang, Y. Ji, Harvesting thermal energy via
tube-based triboelectric nanogenerators within an oscillating heat pipe, Sustain.
Energ. Fuels (2022) 3.
[180] M. Singh, A. Sheetal, R.S. Sawhney, J. Kaur, Animal hair-based triboelectric
nanogenerator (TENG): a substitute for the positive polymer layer in TENG,
J. Electron. Mater. 49 (2020) 3409–3416.
[181] X. Cui, H. Zhang, S. Cao, Z. Yuan, J. Ding, S. Sang, Tube-based triboelectric
nanogenerator for self-powered detecting blockage and monitoring air pressure,
Nano Energy 52 (2018) 71–77.
[182] N. Zhang, C. Qin, T. Feng, J. Li, Z. Yang, X. Sun, E. Liang, Y. Mao, X. Wang, Non-
contact cylindrical rotating triboelectric nanogenerator for harvesting kinetic
energy from hydraulics, Nano Res. 13 (2020) 1903–1907.
[183] Y. Yun, M. La, S. Cho, S. Jang, J.H. Choi, Y. Ra, D. Kam, S.J. Park, D. Choi, High
quality electret based triboelectric nanogenerator for boosted and reliable
electrical output performance, Int. J. Precis. Eng. Manuf.-Gr. Tech. 8 (2021)
125–137.
[184] X. Wei, Z. Zhao, C. Zhang, W. Yuan, Z. Wu, J. Wang, Z. Wang, All-weather
droplet-based triboelectric nanogenerator for wave energy harvesting, ACS Nano
Energy 15 (8) (2021) 13200–13208.
[185] H. Wu, Z. Wang, Y. Zi, Multi-mode water-tube-based triboelectric nanogenerator
designed for low-frequency energy harvesting with ultrahigh volumetric charge
density, Adv. Energy Mater. 11 (16) (2021).
[186] P. Ma, H. Zhu, H. Lu, Y. Zeng, N. Zheng, Z. Wang, X. Cao, Design of biodegradable
wheat-straw based triboelectric nanogenerator as self-powered sensor for wind
detection, Nano Energy 86 (2021) 106032.
[187] X. Chen, B. Cao, C. Yang, H. Zhang, L. Fang, C. Chen, Z. Wang, W. He, P. Wang,
Broadband and multi-cylinder-based triboelectric nanogenerators for mechanical
energy harvesting with high space utilization, Materials 16 (8) (2023) 3034.
[188] C. Cai, J. Mo, Y. Lu, N. Zhang, Z. Wu, S. Wang, S. Nie, Integration of a porous
wood-based triboelectric nanogenerator and gas sensor for real-time wireless
food-quality assessment, Nano Energy 83 (2021) 105833.
[189] R. Xia, R. Zhang, Y. Jie, W. Zhao, X. Cao, Z. Wang, Natural cotton-based
triboelectric nanogenerator as a self-powered system for efficient use of water and
wind energy, Nano Energy 92 (2022) 106685.
[190] Z. Zheng, D. Yu, B. Wang, Y. Guo, Ultrahigh sensitive, eco-friendly, transparent
triboelectric nanogenerator for monitoring human motion and vehicle movement,
Chem. Eng. J. 446 (4) (2022) 137393.
S. Li et al.
[191] X. Xia, Z. Zhou, Y. Shang, Y. Yang, Y. Zi, Metallic glass-based triboelectric
nanogenerators, Nat. Commun. 14 (2023) 1023.
[192] C. Jiang, All-electrospun flexible triboelectric nanogenerator based on metallic
MXene nanosheets, Nano Energy 59 (2019) 268–276.
[193] B. Zhang, All-in-one 3D acceleration sensor based on coded liquid–metal
triboelectric nanogenerator for vehicle restraint system, Mater. Today 43 (2021)
37–44.
[194] X. Xia, Metallic glass-based triboelectric nanogenerators, Nat. Commun. 14 (1)
(2023) 1023.
[195] J. Jeong, Metal electrode polarization in triboelectric nanogenerator probed by
surface charge neutralization, Nanoscale Res. Lett. 17 (1) (2022).
[196] Jurado, U. Tronco, S.H. Pu, N.M. White, Dielectric-metal triboelectric
nanogenerators for ocean wave impact self-powered applications, IEEE Sens. J. 19
(6) (2019) 6778–6785.
[197] L. Gong, Liquid metal based triboelectric nanogenerator with excellent
electrothermal and safeguarding performance towards intelligent plaster, Nano
Energy 109 (2023).
[198] S. Kim, Output signals control of triboelectric nanogenerator with metal-
dielectric-metal configuration through high resistance grounded systems, Nano
Energy 95 (2022).
[199] J. Kim, S. Seo, Fabrication of an imperceptible liquid metal electrode for
triboelectric nanogenerator based on gallium alloys by contact printing, Appl.
Surf. Sci. 509 (2020).
[200] C. Pan, Ultrastretchable, wearable triboelectric nanogenerator based on
sedimented liquid metal elastomer composite, Adv. Mater. Technol. 5 (11)
(2020).
[201] H. Li, Multi-scale metal mesh based triboelectric nanogenerator for mechanical
energy harvesting and respiratory monitoring, Nano Energy 89 (2021).
[202] C. Yeh, Bioinspired shark skin-based liquid metal triboelectric nanogenerator for
self-powered gait analysis and long-term rehabilitation monitoring, Nano Energy
104 (2022).
[203] C. Zhang, Superhydrophobic cellulosic triboelectric materials for distributed
energy harvesting, Chem. Eng. J. (2023) 452.
[204] J. Du, Eco-friendly and humidity-sensitive cellulosic triboelectric materials
tailored by xylanase for monitoring the freshness of fruits, Nano Energy (2023)
108803.
[205] Y. Song, Ultra-porous cellulose nanofibril aerogel films as excellent triboelectric
positive materials via direct freeze-drying of dispersion, Nano Energy 103 (2022)
107832.
[206] W. Zhang, Cellulose template-based triboelectric nanogenerators for self-powered
sensing at high humidity, Nano Energy (2023) 108.
[207] J. Zhao, Hierarchical porous cellulosic triboelectric materials for extreme
environmental conditions, Small Methods 6 (9) (2022).
[208] Q. Fu, Air-permeable cellulosic triboelectric materials for self-powered healthcare
products, Nano Energy (2022) 102.
[209] W. Zhang, Gas-sensitive cellulosic triboelectric materials for self-powered
ammonia sensing, Adv. Sci. 9 (2022) 30.
[210] C. Gao, Cellulosic triboelectric materials for stable energy harvesting from hot
and humid conditions, Nano Energy 111 (2023).
[211] Q. Duan, Fire-retardant hydroxyapatite/cellulosic triboelectric materials for
energy harvesting and sensing at extreme conditions, Nano Energy (2023).
[212] X. Zhou, X. Gu, Y. Wang, Numerical simulations of propagation, bifurcation and
coalescence of cracks in rocks, Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. 80 (2015) 241–254.
[213] B.H. Nguyen, X. Zhuang, T. Rabczuk, Numerical model for the characterization of
Maxwell-Wagner relaxation in piezoelectric and flexoelectric composite material,
Comput. Struct. 208 (2018) 75–91.
[214] C.P. Wu, Y.C. Liu, A review of semi-analytical numerical methods for laminated
composite and multilayered functionally graded elastic/piezoelectric plates and
shells, Comput. Struct. 147 (2016) 1–15.
[215] R. Yasbolaghi, A.R. Khoei, Micro-structural aspects of fatigue crack propagation
in atomistic-scale via the molecular dynamics analysis, Eng. Fract. Mech. 226
(2020) 106848.
[216] A. Montazeri, S. Ebrahimi, H. Rafii-Tabar, A molecular dynamics investigation of
buckling behavior of hydrogenated graphene, Mol. Simul. 41 (14) (2015)
1212–1218.
[217] Q. Xiong, X. Tian, Atomistic simulations of interfacial mechanical characteristics
of carbon nanotube/silicon nanocomposites, Mol. Simul. 41 (13) (2015)
1051–1059.
[218] B. He, B. Javvaji, X. Zhuang, Size dependent flexoelectric and mechanical
properties of barium titanate nanobelt: a molecular dynamics study, Physica B
545 (2018) 527–535.
[219] M. Sahihi, A. Jaramillo-Botero, W.A. Goddard III, F. Bedoui, Interfacial
interactions in a model composite material: insights into α→ β phase transition of
the magnetite reinforced poly (vinylidene fluoride) systems by all-atom molecular
dynamics simulation, J. Phys. Chem. 125 (39) (2021) 21635–21644.
[220] T. Hu, B. Hu, Y. Yan, The predicted dielectric constant of an amorphous pvdf
changing with temperature by molecular dynamics simulations, Int. J.
Electrochem. Sci. 13 (2018) 10088–10100.
[221] N. Potrzebowska, O. Cavani, S. Kazmierski, J.E. Wegrowe, M.J. Potrzebowski, M.
C. Clochard, Molecular dynamics between amorphous and crystalline phases of e-
beam irradiated piezoelectric PVDF thin films employing solid-state NMR
spectroscopy, Polym. Degrad. Stabil. 195 (2022) 109786.
[222] F. Zeng, C. Peng, Y. Liu, J. Qu, Reactive molecular dynamics simulations on the
disintegration of PVDF, FP-POSS, and their composite during atomic oxygen
impact, J. Phys. Chem. A 119 (30) (2015) 8359–8368.
28
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
[223] J.M. Marmolejo-Tejada, J.D.L. Roche-Yepes, C.A. Pérez-López, J.A. Pérez
Taborda, A. Ávila, A. Jaramillo-Botero, Understanding the origin of enhanced
piezoelectric response in PVDF matrices with embedded ZnO nanoparticles, from
polarizable molecular dynamics simulations, J. Comput. Chem. 61 (9) (2021)
4537–4543.
[224] H. Hammami, S. Fakhfakh, M. Lagache, A. Kallel, Investigation into the dynamic
molecular and conductivity mechanisms of piezoelectric ceramics Pb [ZrxTi1− x]
O3/epoxy piezocomposites, Polym. Compos. 41 (10) (2020) 4043–4053.
[225] J. Zhang, J. Zhou, Humidity-dependent piezopotential properties of zinc oxide
nanowires: insights from atomic-scale modelling, Nano Energy 50 (2018)
298–307.
[226] Z. Xu, Z. He, X. Quan, D. Sun, Z. Miao, H. Yu, S. Yang, Z. Chen, J. Zeng, J. Zhou,
Molecular simulations of charged complex fluids: a review, Chin. J. Chem. Eng.
31 (2021) 206–226.
[227] V. Yamakov, C. Park, J.H. Kang, X. Chen, C. Ke, C. Fay, Piezoelectric and elastic
properties of multiwall boron-nitride nanotubes and their fibers: a molecular
dynamics study, Comput. Mater. Sci. 135 (2017) 29–42.
[228] C. Fu, H. Zhu, N. Hoshino, T. Akutagawa, M. Mitsuishi, Interfacial
nanostructuring of poly (vinylidene fluoride) homopolymer with predominant
ferroelectric phases, Langmuir 36 (46) (2020) 14083–14091.
[229] Y. Su, W. Li, X. Cheng, et al., High-performance piezoelectric composites via β
phase programming, Nat. Commun. 13 (1) (2022) 1–12.
[230] M. Choi, J. Park, J. Lee, Design of piezoelectric actuator for braille module by
finite element method, J. Nanosci. Nanotechnol. 19 (3) (2019) 1308–1314.
[231] D. Gedeon, S.J. Rupitsch, Finite element-based system simulation for piezoelectric
vibration energy harvesting devices, J. Intell. Mater. Syst. Struct. 29 (7) (2018)
1333–1347.
[232] V. Yamakov, C. Park, J.H. Kang, X. Chen, C. Ke, C. Fay, Piezoelectric and elastic
properties of multiwall boron-nitride nanotubes and their fibers: a molecular
dynamics study, Comput. Mater. Sci. 135 (2017) 29–42.
[233] S.P. George, J. Isaac, J. Philip, Coupled field analysis of piezoelectric materials for
sensor and actuator applications using finite element method, Mater. Today-Proc.
(2022).
[234] G. Stefanou, D. Savvas, M. Papadrakakis, Stochastic finite element analysis of
composite structures based on mesoscale random fields of material properties,
Comput. Meth. Appl. Mech. Eng. 326 (2017) 319–337.
[235] L. Sun, W. Li, Y. Wu, Q. Lan, Active vibration control of a conical shell using
piezoelectric ceramics, J. Low Freq. Noise Vib. Act. Control. 36 (4) (2017)
366–375.
[236] Y.-H. Huang, T.-H. Huang, W.-S. Hung, C.-Y. Chang, Digital twin of piezoelectric
effect at microscale and macroscale PVDF film, in: 2022 18th IEEE/ASME
International Conference on Mechatronic and Embedded Systems and
Applications (MESA), Taipei, Taiwan, 2022, pp. 1–6.
[237] Z. Butt, R.A. Pasha, F. Qayyum, A. Zeeshan, A. Nasir, E. Hassan, Generation of
electrical energy using lead zirconate titanate (PZT-5A) piezoelectric material:
analytical, numerical and experimental verifications, J. Mech. Sci. Technol. 30
(2016) 3553–3558, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-016-0715-3.
[238] C. Cao, Q. Qin, A. Yu, Micromechanical analysis of heterogeneous composites
using hybrid trefftz FEM and hybrid fundamental solution-based FEM, J. Mech.
29 (4) (2013) 661–674.
[239] E. Bahmyari, C.G. Soares, Uncertainty quantification in free vibration analysis of
cracked moderately thick plates using the non-intrusive chaotic radial basis
function, J. Vib. Eng. Technol. 11 (2) (2023) 599–618.
[240] S. Sodagar, B. Jaleh, P. Fakhri, M. Kashfi, B.F. Mohazzab, A. Momeni, Flexible
piezoelectric PVDF/NDs nanocomposite films: improved electroactive properties
at low concentration of nanofiller and numerical simulation using finite element
method, J. Polym. Res. 27 (8) (2020) 1–10.
[241] Y.J. Shu, F. Shen, L.L. Ke, Y.S. Wang, Adaptive finite element simulation and
experimental verification for fretting wear of PVDF piezoelectric thin films, Wear
(2022) 204395.
[242] M. Kashfi, P. Fakhri, B. Amini, Neda Yavari, B. Rashidi, L. Kong, R. Bagherzadeh,
A novel approach to determining piezoelectric properties of nanogenerators based
on PVDF nanofibers using iterative finite element simulation for walking energy
harvesting, J. Ind. Text. 51 (2022) 531S–553S.
[243] Y.J. Shu, F. Shen, L.L. Ke, Y.S. Wang, Adaptive finite element simulation and
experimental verification for fretting wear of PVDF piezoelectric thin films, Wear
502 (2022) 204395.
[244] F. Mokhtari, M. Latifi, M. Shamshirsaz, M. Khelghatdoost, S. Rahmani, Modeling
of electrospun PVDF/LiCl nanogenerator by the energy approach method:
determining piezoelectric constant, J. Textile Inst. 108 (11) (2017) 1917–1925.
[245] Y. Uetsuji, F. Sano, S. Takeuchi, New proposal of heterostructure for
magnetoelectric effect enhancement from multiscale optimization, J. Mater. Sci.
58 (8) (2023) 3625–3640.
[246] Y. Wang, Y. Shi, F. Narita, Design and finite element simulation of metal-core
piezoelectric fiber/epoxy matrix composites for virus detection, Sens. Actuat. A-
Phys. 327 (2021) 112742.
[247] Z. Butt, S.U. Rahman, R.A. Pasha, S. Mehmood, S. Abbas, H. Elahi, Characterizing
barium titanate piezoelectric material using the finite element method, Trans.
Electr. Electron. Mater. 18 (3) (2017) 163–168.
[248] F. Ram, P. Kaviraj, R. Pramanik, A. Krishnan, K. Shanmuganathan,
A. Arockiarajan, PVDF/BaTiO3 films with nanocellulose impregnation:
investigation of structural, morphological and mechanical properties, J. Alloy.
Comp. 823 (2020) 153701.
[249] E. Iranmanesh, W. Li, K. Wang, Finite element analysis and single-pixel evaluation
of a pixelated energy-harvesting array by integrating PVDF film with dual-gate
S. Li et al.
thin film transistors, in: 2016 IEEE International Conference on Advanced
Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM), 2016, pp. 1622–1627.
[250] C. Yang, B. Hu, L. Lu, Z. Wang, W. Liu, C. Sun, A miniaturized piezoelectric mems
accelerometer with polygon topological cantilever structure, Micromachines 13
(10) (2022) 1608.
[251] S. Nokar, M. Bahrami, A.S. Mostafavi, Comparative evaluation of the effect of
different post and core materials on stress distribution in radicular dentin by
three-dimensional finite element analysis, J. Dent. 15 (2) (2018) 69.
[252] F. Liu, L. Song, M. Jiang, Space-time generalized finite difference method for
solving the thin elastic plate bending under dynamic loading, Eng. Anal. Bound.
Elem. 143 (2022) 632–638.
[253] W. Sun, W. Qu, Y. Gu, S. Zhao, Meshless generalized finite difference method for
two-and three-dimensional transient elastodynamic analysis, Eng. Anal. Bound.
Elem. 152 (2023) 645–654.
[254] G. Picht, V. Bouvier, S. Frank, J. Koruza, F. Felten, G. Lindemann, Ferroelastic
Properties of PZT: characterization under compressive and Tensile Stress, finite-
element simulation, and lifetime calculation, IEEE Trans. Ultrason. Ferroelectr.
Freq. Control. 65 (9) (2018) 1542–1551.
[255] P. Marashizadeh, M. Abshirini, J. Wang, M.C. Saha, Y. Liu, Multiscale modeling of
fiber fragmentation process in aligned ZnO nanowires enhanced single fiber
composites, Sci. Rep. 24 (1) (2019) 19964.
[256] J. Wen, J. Zhang, Y. Gao, A coupling finite element model for analysis the
nonlinear dynamic magnetoelectric response of tri-layer laminate composites,
Compos. Struct. 166 (2017) 163–176.
[257] H. Brito-Santana, R. de Medeiros, R. Rodriguez-Ramos, V. Tita, Different interface
models for calculating the effective properties in piezoelectric composite
materials with imperfect fiber–matrix adhesion, Compos. Struct. 151 (2016)
70–80.
[258] S. Zhu, H. Yu, X. Wu, L. Hao, Z. Shen, J. Wang, L. Guo, Dynamic fracture analysis
in nonhomogeneous piezoelectric materials with a new domain-independent
interaction integral, Theor. Appl. Fract. Mech. 122 (2022) 103614.
[259] J. Ma, K. Zhu, D. Huo, X. Qi, E. Sun, R. Zhang, Performance enhancement of the
piezoelectric ceramics by alternating current polarizing, Appl. Phys. Lett. 118 (2)
(2021).
[260] M.N. Blonsky, H.L. Zhuang, A.K. Singh, R.G. Henning, Ab initio prediction of
piezoelectricity in two-dimensional materials, ACS Nano 9 (10) (2015)
9885–9891.
[261] W. Qu, H. He, A GFDM with supplementary nodes for thin elastic plate bending
analysis under dynamic loading, Appl. Math. Lett. 124 (2022) 107664.
[262] S. Jian, Y. Gu, Z. Fu, W. Qu, An improved generalized finite difference method for
biomaterial interface cracking, CJSM 43 (05) (2022) 541–550.
[263] A. Jain, Y. Shin, K.A. Persson, Computational predictions of energy materials
using density functional theory, Nat. Rev. Mater. 1 (2016) 15004.
[264] M.A. Caro, S. Schulz, E.P. O’Reilly, Origin of nonlinear piezoelectricity in III-V
semiconductors: internal strain and bond ionicity from hybrid-functional density
functional theory, Phys. Rev. B 91 (2015) 075203.
[265] J. Lin, C.S. Chen, F. Wang, T. Dangal, Method of particular solutions using
polynomial basis functions for the simulation of plate bending vibration
problems, Appl. Math. Model. 49 (2017) 452–469.
[266] T. Rabczuk, H. Ren, X. Zhuang, A nonlocal operator method for partial differential
equations with application to electromagnetic waveguide problem, CMC-Comput.
Mat. Contin. 59 (1) (2019) 31–55.
[267] H. Yu, J. Lin, Simulation of antiplane piezoelectricity problems with multiple
inclusions using the generalized finite difference method, Eur. J. Mech. A-Solids
94 (2022) 104615.
[268] B. Yang, W. Zeng, Z. Peng, S. Liu, K. Chen, X. Tao, A fully verified theoretical
analysis of contact-mode triboelectric nanogenerators as a wearable power
source, Adv. Energy Mater. 6 (16) (2016).
[269] G. Zhu, Y.S. Zhou, P. Bai, X.S. Meng, Q. Jing, J. Chen, Z.L. Wang, A shape-
adaptive thin-film-based approach for 50% high-efficiency energy generation
through micro-grating sliding electrification, Adv. Mater. 26 (23) (2014)
3788–3796.
[270] F. Xi, Y. Pang, W. Li, T. Jiang, T. Guo, G. Liu, C. Zhang, Z. Wang, Universal power
management strategy for triboelectric nanogenerator, Nano Energy 37 (2017)
168–176.
[271] Z. Zhao, J. Liu, Z. Wang, et al., Ultrasensitive triboelectric nanogenerator for weak
ambient energy with rational unipolar stacking structure and low-loss power
management, Nano Energy 41 (2017) 351–358.
[272] Z. Wang, Triboelectric nanogenerators as new energy technology for self-powered
systems and as active mechanical and chemical sensors, ACS Nano 7 (11) (2013)
9533–9557.
[273] K.Y. Lee, J. Chun, J.H. Lee, et al., Hydrophobic sponge structure-based
triboelectric nanogenerator, Adv. Mater. 26 (29) (2014) 5037–5042.
[274] G. Zhu, Z. Lin, Q. Jing, P. Bai, C. Pan, Y. Yang, Y. Zhou, Z. Wang, Toward large-
scale energy harvesting by a nanoparticle-enhanced triboelectric nanogenerator,
Nano Lett. 13 (2) (2013) 847–853.
[275] T. Jiang, L. Zhang, X. Chen, C. Han, W. Tang, C. Zhang, L. Xu, Z. Wang, Structural
optimization of triboelectric nanogenerator for harvesting water wave energy,
ASC Nano 9 (12) (2015) 12562–12572.
[276] I. Mehamud, P. Marklund, M. Bjorling, Y. Shi, Machine condition monitoring
enabled by broad range vibration frequency detecting triboelectric nano-
generator (TENG)-based vibration sensors, Nano Energy 98 (2022).
[277] J. Mainra, A. Kaur, G. Sapra, P. Gaur, Simulation and modelling of triboelectric
nanogenerator for self-powered electronic devices, IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci.
Eng. 1225 (1) (2022) 012012.
29
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
[278] X. Cui, Y. Zhang, G. Hu, L. Zhang, Y. Zhang, Dynamical charge transfer model for
high surface charge density triboelectric nanogenerators, Nano Energy 70 (2022)
104513.
[279] Y. Liu, W. Liu, Z. Wang, W. He, Q. Tang, Y. Xi, X. Wang, H. Guo, C. Hu,
Quantifying contact status and the air-breakdown model of charge-excitation
triboelectric nanogenerators to maximize charge density, Nat. Commun. 11 (1)
(2020).
[280] Z. Peng, X. Xiao, J. Song, A. Libanori, C. Lee, K. Chen, Y. Gao, Y. Fang, J. Wang,
Z. Wang, J. Chen, M. Leung, Improving relative permittivity and suppressing
dielectric loss of triboelectric layers for high-performance wearable electricity
generation, ACS Nano 16 (12) (2022) 20251–20262.
[281] H. Wang, Z. Guo, G. Zhu, X. Pu, Z. Wang, Boosting the power and lowering the
impedance of triboelectric nanogenerators through manipulating the permittivity
for wearable energy harvesting, ACS Nano 15 (4) (2021) 7513–7521.
[282] M. Khorsand, J. Tavakoli, K. Kamanya, Y. Tang, Simulation of high-output and
lightweight sliding-mode triboelectric nanogenerators, Nano Energy 66 (2019)
104115.
[283] K. Venugopal, V. Shanmugasundaram, Effective modeling and numerical
simulation of triboelectric nanogenerator for blood pressure measurement based
on Wrist Pulse Signal using COMSOL Multiphysics Software, ACS Omega 7 (30)
(2022) 26863–26870.
[284] C. Callaty, I. Gonçalves, C. Rodrigues, J. Ventura, Modeling the performance of
contact-separation triboelectric nanogenerators, Curr. Appl. Phys. 50 (2023)
100–106.
[285] C. Jin, D. Kia, M. Jones, S. Towfighian, On the contact behavior of micro-/nano-
structured interface used in vertical-contact-mode triboelectric nanogenerators,
Nano Energy 27 (2016) 68–77.
[286] D.J. Lacks, T. Shinbrot, Long-standing and unresolved issues in triboelectric
charging, Nat. Rev. Chem. 3 (2019) 465–476.
[287] H. Grosshans, M.V. Papalexandris, Large eddy simulation of triboelectric charging
in pneumatic powder transport, Powder Technol. 301 (2016) 1008–1015.
[288] X. Cui, Y. Zhang, G. Hu, L. Zhang, Y. Zhang, Dynamical charge transfer model for
high surface charge density triboelectric nanogenerators, Nano Energy (2020) 70.
[289] C. Jin, D.S. Kia, M. Jones, S. Toufighian, On the contact behavior of micro-/nano-
structured interface used in vertical-contact-mode triboelectric nanogenerators,
Nano Energy 27 (2016) 68–77.
[290] H. Grosshans, M.V. Papalexandris, Direct numerical simulation of triboelectric
charging in particle-laden turbulent channel flows, J. Fluid Mech. 818 (2017).
[291] P. Sippola, J. Kolehmainen, A. Ozel, X. Liu, P. Saarenrinne, S. Sundaresan,
Experimental and numerical study of wall layer development in a tribocharged
fluidized bed, J. Fluid Mech. 849 (2018).
[292] L. Zhang, Y. Tao, L. Yang, Research on flow field and kinematic characteristics of
fly ash particles in rotary triboelectrostatic separator, Powder Technol. 336
(2018) 168–179.
[293] F.O. Alfano, A.D. Renzo, F.P.D. Maio, M. Ghadiri, Computational analysis of
triboelectrification due to aerodynamic powder dispersion, Powder Technol. 382
(2021) 491–504.
[294] Y. Chen, B. Xie, J. Long, et al., Interfacial laser-induced graphene enabling high-
performance liquid− solid triboelectric nanogenerator, Adv. Mater. 33 (44)
(2021).
[295] O. Verners, L. Lapčinskis, L. Ģermane, A. Kasikov, M. Timusk, K. Pudzs, A.V. Ellis,
P.c. Sherrell, A. Šutka, Smooth polymers charge negatively: controlling contact
electrification polarity in polymers, Nano Energy 104 (2022).
[296] Y. Xi, F. Zhang, Y. Shi, Effects of surface micro-structures on capacitances of the
dielectric layer in triboelectric nanogenerator: a numerical simulation study,
Nano Energy 79 (2021).
[297] A. Wang, P.S. Gil, M. Holonga, Z. Yavuz, H.T. Baytekin, R.M. Sankaran, D.
J. Lacks, Dependence of triboelectric charging behavior on material
microstructure, Phys. Rev. Mater. 1 (2017) 035605.
[298] L. Li, X. Wang, P. Zhu, H. Li, F. Wang, J. Wu, The electron transfer mechanism
between metal and amorphous polymers in humidity environment for
triboelectric nanogenerator, Nano Energy 70 (2020) 104476.
[299] W. Xu, X. Zhou, C. Hao, et al., SLIPS-TENG: robust triboelectric nanogenerator
with optical and charge transparency using a slippery interface, Natl. Sci. Rev. 6
(3) (2019) 540–550.
[300] J. Chen, J. Wang, W. Xuan, S. Dong, J. Luo, Universal triboelectric nanogenerator
simulation based on dynamic finite element method model, Sensors (20) (2020).
[301] P. Vasandani, Z.H. Mao, W. Jia, M. Sun, Design of simulation experiments to
predict triboelectric generator output using structural parameters, Simul. Model.
Pract. Theory 68 (2016) 95–107.
[302] B. Cheng, Q. Xu, Y. Ding, S. Bai, X. Jia, Y. Yu, J. Wen, Y. Qin, High performance
temperature difference triboelectric nanogenerator, Nat. Commun. (2021).
[303] R. Hinchet, A. Ghaffarinejad, Y. Lu, J.Y. Hasani, S.W. Kim, P. Basset,
Understanding and modeling of triboelectric-electret nanogenerator, Nano
Energy 47 (2018) 401–409.
[304] H. Chen, J. Shi, A. Akbarzadeh, Curved architected triboelectric metamaterials:
auxeticity-enabled enhanced figure-of-merit, Adv. Funct. Mater. (2023) 33.
[305] S. Shafeek, S. Sharieef, Evaluation through finite element and numerical
simulation of triboelectric polymer pairs in vertical contact mode, J. Energy Sys. 5
(1) (2021) 35–45.
[306] K. Dai, X. Wang, S. Niu, F. Yi, Y. Yin, L. Chen, Y. Zhang, Z. You, Simulation and
structure optimization of triboelectric nanogenerators considering the effects of
parasitic capacitance, Nano Res. 10 (1) (2017) 157–171.
[307] Y. Xi, F. Zhang, Y. Shi, Effects of surface micro-structures on capacitances of the
dielectric layer in triboelectric nanogenerator: a numerical simulation study,
Nano Energy 79 (2021) 105432.
S. Li et al.
[308] H. Wang, C.K. Jeong, M.H. Seo, D.J. Joe, J.H. Han, J.B. Yoon, K.J. Lee,
Performance-enhanced triboelectric nanogenerator enabled by wafer-scale
nanogrates of multistep pattern downscaling, Nano Energy 35 (2017) 415–423.
[309] Y. Chu, R. Han, F. Meng, Z. Cao, S. Wang, K. Dong, S. Yang, H. Liu, X. Ye, F. Tang,
Theoretical study on the output of contact-separation triboelectric
nanogenerators with arbitrary charging and grounding conditions, Nano Energy
89 (2021).
[310] J. Choi, J. Jeong, M. Kang, H. Ko, T. Kim, K. Park, J. Kim, S. Pyo, Externally
motionless triboelectric nanogenerator based on vortex-induced rolling for
omnidirectional wind energy harvesting, Nano Energy (2024) 119.
[311] S. Parandeh, N. Etemadi, M. Kharaziha, G. Chen, A. Nashalian, X. Xiao, J. Chen,
Advances in triboelectric nanogenerators for self-powered regenerative medicine,
Adv. Funct. Mater. (2021) 31.
[312] M. Jiang, Y. Lu, Z. Zhu, W. Jia, Advances in smart sensing and medical electronics
by self-powered sensors based on triboelectric nanogenerators, Micromachines 12
(6) (2021).
[313] D. Wen, X. Liu, H. Deng, D. Sun, H. Qian, J. Brugger, X. Zhang, Printed silk-
fibroin-based triboelectric nanogenerators for multi-functional wearable sensing,
Nano Energy (2019) 66.
[314] A.A. Mathew, A. Chandrasekhar, S. Vivekanandan, A review on real-time
implantable and wearable health monitoring sensors based on triboelectric
nanogenerator approach, Nano Energy 80 (2021).
[315] A.P. Prasanna, V. Vivekananthan, G. Khandelwal, N.R. Alluri, N.P. Maria, J. Raj,
M. Anithkumar, S. Kim, Green energy from edible materials: triboelectrification-
enabled sustainable self-powered human joint movement monitoring, ACS
Sustainable Chem. Eng. 10 (2022).
[316] T. Jin, Z. Sun, L. Li, et al., Triboelectric nanogenerator sensors for soft robotics
aiming at digital twin applications, Nat. Commun. 11 (2020).
[317] C. Qiu, F. Wu, Q. Shi, C. Lee, M.R. Yuce, Sensors and control interface methods
based on triboelectric nanogenerator in IoT applications, IEEE Access 7 (2019)
92745–92757.
[318] M. Anithkumar, A.P.S. Prasanna, N.R. Alluri, S. Kim, Self-powered smart
touchpad using novel intrinsic piezo–tribo hybrid nanogenerator, Adv. Funct.
Mater. (2023) 33.
[319] Z. Lin, J. Chen, J. Yang, Recent progress in triboelectric nanogenerators as a
renewable and sustainable power source, J. Nanomater. (2016).
[320] C. Wu, H. Huang, R. Li, C. Fan, Research on the potential of spherical triboelectric
nanogenerator for collecting vibration energy and measuring vibration, Sensors
20 (2020).
[321] H. Zhang, Y. Yang, Y. Su, J. Chen, K. Adams, S. Lee, C. Hu, Z.L. Wang,
Triboelectric nanogenerator for harvesting vibration energy in full space and as
self-powered acceleration sensor, Adv. Funct. Mater. 24 (2014) 1401–1407.
[322] Y. Hu, J. Yang, Q. Jing, S. Niu, W. Wu, Z. Wang, Triboelectric nanogenerator built
on suspended 3D spiral structure as vibration and positioning sensor and wave
energy harvester, ASC Nano 7 (2013) 10424–10432.
[323] J. Zhu, A. Wang, H. Hu, H. Zhu, Hybrid Electromagnetic and triboelectric
nanogenerators with multi-impact for wideband frequency energy harvesting,
Energies (2017) 10.
[324] M. Yuan, Y. Wenping, Y. Jiang, Z. Ding, Z. Zhang, X. Zhang, Y. Xie, Triboelectric
nanogenerator metamaterials for joint structural vibration mitigation and self-
powered structure monitoring, Nano Energy 103 (2022).
[325] J. Yu, T. Ma, Triboelectricity-based self-charging droplet capacitor for harvesting
low-level ambient energy, Nano Energy 74 (2020).
[326] Y. Wang, A.T. Pham, X. Han, D. Du, Y. Tang, Design and evaluate the wave
driven- triboelectric nanogenerator under external wave parameters: experiment
and simulation, Nano Energy 93 (2022).
[327] H. Luo, J. Liu, T. Yang, Y. Zhang, Q. Cao, Dipteran flight-inspired bistable
triboelectric nanogenerator for harvesting low frequency vibration, Nano Energy
103 (2022).
30
Applied Materials Today 37 (2024) 102092
[328] P. Jiao, A.M. Nazar, K.J. Egbe, K. Barri, A.H. Alavi, Magnetic capsulate
triboelectric nanogenerators, Sci. Rep. 12 (89) (2022).
[329] Y. Wang, J. Wang, X. Xiao, S. Wang, P.T. Kien, J. Dong, J. Mi, X. Pan, H. Wang,
M. Xu, Multi-functional wind barrier based on triboelectric nanogenerator for
power generation, self-powered wind speed sensing and highly efficient
windshield, Nano Energy 73 (2020).
[330] X. Zhu, X. Meng, S. Kuang, X. Wang, C. Pan, G. Zhu, Z. Wang, Triboelectrification-
enabled touch sensing for self-powered position mapping and dynamic tracking
by a flexible and area-scalable sensor array, Nano Energy 41 (2017) 387–393.
[331] K. Venugopal, V. Shanmugasundaram, Effective modeling and numerical
simulation of triboelectric nanogenerator for blood pressure measurement based
on wrist pulse signal using comsol multiphysics software, ACS Omega 7 (2022)
26863–26870.
[332] A.M. Nazar, K.I. Egbe, P. Jiao, Magnetic lifting triboelectric nanogenerators (ml-
TENG) for energy harvesting and active sensing, APL Mater. 9 (2021).
[333] H. Sun, Y. Zhao, C. Wang, K. Zhou, C. Yan, G. Zheng, J. Huang, K. Dai, C. Liu,
C. Shen, Ultra-Stretchable, durable and conductive hydrogel with hybrid double
network as high performance strain sensor and stretchable triboelectric
nanogenerator, Nano Energy 76 (2020).
[334] Q.L. Goh, P. Chee, E.H. Lim, G.G. Liew, Self-powered pressure sensor based on
microfluidic triboelectric principle for human–machine interface applications,
Smart Mater. Struct. 30 (2021).
[335] Z. Lin, B. Zhang, H. Zou, Z. Wu, H. Guo, Y. Zhang, J. Yang, Z. Wang, Rationally
designed rotation triboelectric nanogenerators with much extended lifetime and
durability, Nano Energy 68 (2020).
[336] Y. Liu, W. Zhao, G. Liu, T. Bu, Y. Xia, S. Xu, C. Zhang, H. Zhang, Self-powered
artificial joint wear debris sensor based on triboelectric nanogenerator, Nano
Energy 85 (2021).
[337] J. Wang, Z. Jiang, W. Sun, X. Xu, Q. Han, F. Chu, Yoyo-ball inspired triboelectric
nanogenerators for harvesting biomechanical energy, Appl. Energy 308 (2022).
[338] Y. Wang, X. Liu, Z. Zheng, Y. Yin, X. Wang, Z. You, Numerical analysis and
structural optimization of cylindrical grating-structured triboelectric
nanogenerator, Nano Energy 90 (2021).
[339] Y. Wang, H. Wang, H.Y. Li, X. Wei, Z. Wang, G. Zhu, Enhanced high-resolution
triboelectrification-induced electroluminescence for self-powered visualized
interactive sensing, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 11 (2019) 13796–13802.
[340] S. Kuang, G. Zhu, Z. Wang, Triboelectrification-enabled self-powered data
storage, Adv. Sci. 5 (2018).
[341] M. Han, X. Zhang†, B. Meng, W. Liu, W. Tang, X. Sun, W. Wang, H. Zhang, R-
shaped hybrid nanogenerator with enhanced piezoelectricity, ACS Nano 7 (10)
(2013) 8554–8560, https://doi.org/10.1021/nn404023v.
[342] S.M.A.Z. Shawon, A.X. Sun, V.S. Vega, B.D. Chowdhury, P. Tran, Z.D. Carballo, J.
A. Tolentino, J. Li, M.S. Rafaqut, S. Danti, M.J. Uddin, Piezo-tribo dual effect
hybrid nanogenerators for health monitoring, Nano Energy 82 (2021) 105691.
[343] K.Y. Lee, M.K. Gupta, S.W. Kim, Transparent flexible stretchable piezoelectric and
triboelectric nanogenerators for powering portable electronics, Nano Energy 14
(2015) 139–160.
[344] H.H. Singh, D. Kumar, N. Khare, A synchronous
piezoelectric–triboelectric–electromagnetic hybrid generator for harvesting
vibration energy, Sustain. Energ. Fuels 5 (1) (2021) 212–218.
[345] E. Kiely, R. Zwane, R. Fox, A.M. Reilly, S. Guerin, Density functional theory
predictions of the mechanical properties of crystalline materials, Crystengcomm
23 (34) (2021) 5697–5710.
[346] J. Zhang, S.A. Meguid, Piezoelectricity of 2D nanomaterials: characterization,
properties, and applications, Semicond. Sci. Technol. 32 (4) (2017) 043006.
[347] M.G. Medvedev, I.S. Bushmarinov, J. Sun, J.P. Perdew, K.A. Lyssenko, Density
functional theory is straying from the path toward the exact functional, Science
355 (6320) (2017) 49–52.
[348] E. Van Der Giessen, P.A. Schultz, N. Bertin, et al., Roadmap on multiscale
materials modeling, Model. Simul. Mater. Sci. Eng. 28 (4) (2020) 043001.