Copyright WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69469 Weinheim, Germany, 2014.

Supporting Information
for Adv. Mater., DOI: 10.1002/adma.201402491

Maximum Surface Charge Density for Triboelectric

Nanogenerators Achieved by Ionized-Air Injection:
Methodology and Theoretical Understanding
Sihong Wang, Yannan Xie, Simiao Niu, Long Lin, Chang Liu,
Yu Sheng Zhou, and Zhong Lin Wang*
Copyright WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69469 Weinheim, Germany, 2013.

Supporting Information

Maximum Surface Charge Density for Triboelectric Nanogenerators Achieved by

Ionized-Air Injection: Methodology and Theoretical Understanding

Sihong Wang, Yannan Xie, Simiao Niu, Long Lin, Chang Liu, Yu Sheng Zhou, and Zhong Lin
Wang*

Figure S1. Enhancement to the surface charge density on the FEP (i.e. the short-circuit
charge density from the TENG) by the ion injection method when the back electrode is
not grounded.
Figure S2. Experimentally obtained ΔσSC-I-ΔσSC-R plots of the FEP films with two
different thicknesses (a) 75 µm and (b) 125 µm to determine their maximum surface
charge densities.
Figure S3. Enhancement to the FEP’s surface charge density in a sliding-mode TENG
by the ion injection method.
Figure S4. Very little enhancement to the FEP’s surface charge density in a single-
electrode-mode TENG by the ion injection method.
Figure S5. Stability of the ion-injected surface charges on the FEP film when tightly
pressed with Al for a certain length of time.
Figure S6. Negatively-charged FEP film is converted to the positively-charged state
through the injection of positive ions.
Figure S7. Stability of the positive surface charges on the FEP layer obtained from the
injection of positive ions, which was tested through measuring the ΔσSC from the TENG.
Figure S8. Enhancement of the surface charge density on non-electret material (Kapton
with the same thickness of 50 μm) in a contact-mode TENG by the ion injection method.
Figure S9. Stability of the ion-injected surface charges on the Kapton film, which was
tested through measuring the ΔσSC from the TENG.
Detailed derivation of the voltage drop (Vgap) across the air gap in the contact-mode
TENG
With the theoretical model of the contact-mode TENG shown in Fig. 3c, we firstly derive the

charge density (σx) on the bottom electrode at a gap distance of x.

The potential difference between the two electrodes:

( 0   x ) d  d  d
VE  ( x  )  0 ( x  )  0 ( x  )
2 0 r 2 0 r 2 0 r

where d is the thickness of the FEP film, σ0 is the surface charge density on the FEP film, and

εr is the relative permittivity of the FEP layer. When the two electrodes are in short-circuit

condition, we have:

VE  0

From this, we can get:

x r
x  0
d  x r

Thus, the potential difference across the air gap between the triboelectric surfaces is:

( 0   x )   (   x ) d 0 x
Vgap  x 0  x x 0 x
2 0 2 0 2 0 0  0 (d  x r )