Contamination‐Resilient, High‐Output Triboelectric Nanogenerator With Fully‐Recycled, Multi‐Material Crumpled Balls

ABSTRACT With rapid industrialization, municipal solid waste (MSW) production has increased, necessitating effective recycling solutions. However, material sorting and chemical post‐treatment processes reduce user convenience and contribute to environmental pollution. To solve this problem, this study introduces a fully recycled, multi‐material crumpled‐ball triboelectric nanogenerator (FRMC‐TENG). This device is composed entirely of recycled materials by applying a unique and effective crumpled ball design. Among fully recycled material‐based TENGs, the FRMC‐TENG showed excellent electrical performance by adopting an electrostatic discharge generation mechanism and exhibited a high peak current output of 1.76 A. Output performance was improved by using a multi‐ball mixing structure, and the optimal structure was determined through various experiments. The effect of kitchen contaminants on the device was assessed. Even after exposure to contaminants, its electrical performance quickly recovered with a simple wipe. The FRMC‐TENG can be fabricated in less than 1 min using recycled materials, lit up 1000 LEDs, and maintained the performance for over 30 min of hand operation. Its contamination resistance and diverse applicability suggest an effective and novel strategy for waste‐to‐energy. image