"We propose a vortex-induced vibration-based triboelectric nanogenerator (VIV-TENG) to enable efficient wind energy harvesting under low wind speed and complex environmental conditions," says Prof. Chuyan Zhang from China University of Geosciences (Beijing).
They published their study on May 11, 2026, in iEnergy.
A new strategy for distributed wind energy harvesting
With the growing demand for clean energy, harvesting distributed wind energy in urban environments has attracted increasing attention. However, conventional wind turbines are often limited by their large size, high cost, and strict installation requirements, making them unsuitable for small-scale and decentralized applications. Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), pioneered by Wang Zhonglin, provide a promising alternative due to their advantages in low-frequency energy harvesting. Nevertheless, existing wind-driven TENG designs still face challenges such as low efficiency at low wind speeds, poor adaptability to multidirectional airflow, mechanical wear, and performance degradation in humid environments.
Vortex-induced vibration enables stable energy conversion
To overcome these limitations, the research team developed a VIV-TENG that utilizes vortex-induced vibration instead of conventional rotational or fluttering mechanisms. When airflow passes through the device, periodic vortex shedding induces oscillations of the central axis, which drives multiple TENG units to generate electricity.
"The vortex-induced vibration mechanism allows the device to operate without rotational components, reducing mechanical wear while maintaining stable output under multidirectional airflow," the research team explains.
The device features a symmetric structure with multiple TENG units arranged around a central axis, enabling efficient wind energy collection from various directions. In addition, an encapsulated design improves its environmental robustness.
Efficient output under low wind speed and high humidity
The experimental results demonstrate that the VIV-TENG achieves stable output performance over a wide range of wind speeds. At a wind speed of 3.5 m/s, the device reaches a peak open-circuit voltage of 82.9 V and a short-circuit current of 13 μA.
Notably, the device can operate at a low start-up wind speed of 0.9 m/s. It can also charge a 47 μF capacitor to 2 V within one minute.
In addition, the device maintains stable performance in humid environments. The maximum average output power reaches 49.5 μW at 45% relative humidity and remains at 45.5 μW even at 85% humidity, demonstrating environmental adaptability.
Toward self-powered systems in urban environments
The device shows potential for practical applications. It can power multiple LEDs, drive small electronic devices such as clocks, and support self-powered sensing systems.
The results suggest that the proposed device could serve as a feasible approach for distributed wind energy harvesting and self-powered systems.
This study provides a possible pathway for utilizing low-speed wind energy in complex environments and indicates the potential of TENG-based technologies in urban energy systems.
The above research is published in iEnergy, which is a fully open access journal published by Tsinghua University Press. iEnergy publishes peer-reviewed high-quality research representing important advances of significance to emerging power systems. At its discretion, Tsinghua University Press will pay the open access fee for all published papers from 2022 to 2026.
About iEnergy
iEnergy is a quarterly journal launched on March 2022. It has published 5 volumes (18 issues). Authors come from 25 countries, including China, the United States, Australia, etc., and world's top universities and research institutes, including University of Nebraska Lincoln, Columbia University, Imperial College of Science and Technology, Tsinghua University, etc. 12 published articles are written by academicians from various countries. The published papers have also attracted an overwhelming response and have been cited by 338 journals, including top journals in the field of power and energy like Nature, Nature Materials, Advanced Materials, Joule, Energy Environmental Science, etc., from 80 countries.
iEnergy publishes original research on exploring all aspects of power and energy, including any kind of technologies and applications from power generation, transmission, distribution, to conversion, utilization, and storage. iEnergy provides a platform for delivering cutting-edge advancements of sciences and technologies for the future-generation power and energy systems. It has been indexed by ESCI (Impact factor 5.0), Ei Compendex, Scopus (CiteScoreTracker 2024 7.4), Inspec, CAS, and DOAJ.
