There are many ways to convert kinetic and potential energy into electricity, and the most famous one is based on Faraday´s law: when a permanent magnet is moved relative to a wire, or vice versa, an electromotive force is created and electric current starts flowing through the wire. Many applications were born from this basic principle, taking advantage of natural forces (wind, moving water and heat) that are capable of moving very big magnets (turbines) relative to a conductor to generate electricity.

However, another physics principle that most people still haven´t heard about is the triboelectric effect, which generates electric current when two different materials come into physical contact with each other.

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are based on two fundamental processes: contact electrification and electrostatic induction. Upon contact between the two working surfaces of the TENG, at least one of which is a dielectric material, the surface with higher negative, or positive, charge affinity will attract negative, or positive, charges from the other surface. Once the charges are transferred, the charges at the dielectric surface induce opposite charges on the electrodes. As the two working surfaces move relatively to each other, the induced charges move across the external circuit to provide power to external loads.