Lithium-Ion Batteries: Charged by Triboelectric Nanogenerators with Pulsed Output Based on the Enhanced Cycling Stability

The triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has been used to store its generated energy into lithium-ion batteries (LIBs); however, the influences of its pulse current and high voltage on LIB polarization and dynamic behaviors have not been investigated yet. In this paper, it is found that LIBs based on the phase transition reaction of the lithium storage mechanism [LiFePO₄ (LFP) and Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ (LTO) electrodes] are more suitable for charging by TENGs. Thus, the enhanced cycling capacity, Coulombic efficiency (nearly 100% for LTO electrode), and energy storage efficiency (85.3% for the LFP-LTO electrode) are successfully achieved. Moreover, the pulse current has a positive effect on the increase of the Li-ion extraction, reducing the charge-transfer resistance ( R_ct) for all studied electrodes as well (LFP, LiNi_0.6Co_0.2Mn_0.2O₂, LTO, and graphite). The excellent cyclability, high Coulombic, and energy storage efficiencies demonstrated the availability of storing pulsed energy generated by TENGs. This research has provided a promising analysis to obtain an enhanced charging methodology, which provides significant guidance for the scientific research of the LIBs.