Triboelectricity From Car Tires (Electric Vehicles: Everything is Changing. USA 2016)

An innovative design of single-electrode nanogenerator was integrate with rubber wheels, which converts the wasted friction energy between the rolling wheel and ground into electricity. A nanogenerator made from recycled fiber board was integrated with wood panels, which can be used as floor for harvesting energy from people walking.

Dr. Xudong Wang is an associate professor in the department of Materials Science and Engineering at University of Wisconsin - Madison. He received his PhD degree from the school of Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology in 2005. His current research focuses on developing nanoscale materials and devices for environmental mechanical energy harvesting. He has published more than 80 peer reviewed papers, holds 7 patents. He is also the recipient of NSF CAREER Award, DARPA Young Faculty Award, 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award, Ross Coffin Purdy Award, and MIT Technology Review Young Innovators Under 35 Award.

The technology was conceived at the University of Wisconsin-Madison lab for advanced materials for energy and electronics under the direction of Professor Michael Arnold. The impact of nanomaterials on society has often been limited because it is difficult to synthesize, purity, process, organize, and integrate nanomaterials and nanostructures. Our research especially draws from multiple disciplines to address fundamental materials challenges - in controlling the growth, processing, ordering, and heterogeneity of nanomaterials and in understanding phenomena beyond the scale of single nanostructures - that must be overcome to exploit these exciting components in technology.