Celebrating the 18th Anniversary of the Invention of the First Nanogenerators

Dear Colleagues,

The first nanogenerator was invented in 2005 by Wang’s group. Ever since then, several important fields have been coined: piezoelectric nanogenerators, triboelectric nanogenerators, pyro-electric nanogenerators, self-powered sensors, piezotronics, piezo-phototronics, tribotronics, and more. Their invention has inspired a worldwide effort in energy harvesting and sensors for the Internet of things, robotics, artificial intelligence, human–machine interfacing, blue energy, etc. Based on the SCI database, there are 12000 researchers, distributed in over 83 countries and regions, who are engaged with nanogenerators. Through continuous development over the years, there are many types of nanogenerators. The type of energy that can be collected and converted varies from one type of nanogenerator to another. Piezoelectric nanogenerators and triboelectric nanogenerators can collect mechanical energy from the environment. Pyroelectric and thermoelectric nanogenerators can come to harvest thermal energy. With the exception of triboelectric nanogenerators, other different types of nanogenerators are based on different functional materials; for example, piezoelectric materials, ferroelectric materials, thermoelectric materials, etc. Using these multifunctional types of materials, hybridized and coupled nanogenerators can harvest various types of energy with enhanced energy conversion efficiency. On a material basis, the performance of nanogenerators can be enhanced for wider applications in various fields. At the most basic level, the characteristics of nanogenerators allow them to be used not only as sources of power supply but also as self-powered sensors; however, in the era of intelligence, nanogenerators have a wide scope for development and can be combined with the Internet of things as well as artificial intelligence to bring out greater potential.

To celebrate the great success of the nanogenerator field, the journal of Nanoenergy Advances will publish a Special Issue on the occasion of the 18th anniversary of nanogenerators by reporting on the most recent progress in the field. The objective is to continuously promote its development and technological impact. We sincerely invite you to author an article on a topic related to nanogenerators. Thank you very much.

Prof. Dr. Zhong Lin Wang
Prof. Dr. Ya Yang
Guest Editors

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