A highly efficient triboelectric negative air ion generator

Hengyu Guo, Jie Chen, Longfei Wang, Aurelia Chi Wang, Yafeng Li, Chunhua An, Jr-Hau He, Chenguo Hu, Vincent K. S. Hsiao () and Zhong Lin Wang ()
Additional contact information
Hengyu Guo: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jie Chen: Georgia Institute of Technology
Longfei Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Aurelia Chi Wang: Georgia Institute of Technology
Yafeng Li: Georgia Institute of Technology
Chunhua An: Georgia Institute of Technology
Jr-Hau He: City University of Hong Kong
Chenguo Hu: Chongqing University
Vincent K. S. Hsiao: Georgia Institute of Technology
Zhong Lin Wang: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature Sustainability, 2021, vol. 4, issue 2, 147-153

Abstract: Abstract Negative air ions (NAIs) have been widely harnessed in recent technologies for air pollutant removal and their beneficial effects on human health, including allergy relief and neurotransmitter modulation. Herein, we report a corona-type, mechanically stimulated triboelectric NAI generator. Using the high output voltage from a triboelectric nanogenerator, air molecules can be locally ionized from carbon fibre electrodes through various movements, with the electron–ion transformation efficiency reaching up to 97%. Using a palm-sized device, 1 × 1013 NAIs (theoretically 1 × 105 ions cm−3 in 100 m3 space) are produced in one sliding motion, and particulate matter (PM 2.5) can be rapidly reduced from 999 to 0 µg m−3 in 80 s (in a 5,086 cm3 glass chamber) under an operation frequency of 0.25 Hz. This triboelectric NAI generator is simple, safe and effective, providing an appealing alternative, sustainable avenue to improving health and contributing to a cleaner environment.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-00628-9 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natsus:v:4:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1038_s41893-020-00628-9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/natsustain/

DOI: 10.1038/s41893-020-00628-9

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Sustainability is currently edited by Monica Contestabile

More articles in Nature Sustainability from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().