Original title: Triboelectrification of a dense metal-organic framework for resilient mechanical energy harvesters
Chuzhan Jin, Debayan Mondal, Jiahao Ye, Jin-Chong Tan · September 2026
Devices that harvest electricity from movement often use sponge-like, porous materials. Scientists assumed these hollow spaces were needed to boost electric output. To test this, researchers mixed a dense, solid material without pores, named ZIF-zni, into a flexible polyurethane plastic. When this composite material repeatedly taps against another common plastic, contact pushes and pulls electric charges across their surfaces. The solid material creates helpful electrical charges at the boundaries inside the plastic, avoids blocking these electric fields, and changes surface roughness to improve contact. Testing showed the device produced an output voltage of 470+/-15 V and worked reliably across roughly ~94,000 impacts. It even survived hits over 500 N, allowing the team to power a test floor tile. Solid materials can therefore replace porous ones in energy harvesters.
Imagine trying to gather static electricity by rubbing a balloon on your hair. Normally, you want more surface area, so you might think a fuzzy sweater would work better than a smooth one. But the fuzzy sweater actually lets the charge leak away faster. Here, the researchers found that a dense, smooth material—like a polished plastic—can trap charge more effectively than a porous one, because the charge can't escape through tiny holes.
Imagine a floor tile that generates electricity every time someone steps on it. This research makes that more practical by using a cheap, dense material that doesn't need special pores to work, lasting nearly 100,000 steps. It could power sensors in buildings or shoes without batteries.
This work demonstrates only a proof-of-concept floor tile with one specific dense MOF (ZIF-zni) blended into a polyurethane matrix. Performance has not been tested against other triboelectric materials beyond PDMS. Long-term stability under varying environmental conditions (humidity, temperature) is not reported. The device's output power density may not be sufficient for many practical applications without further optimization.
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Triboelectrification of a dense metal-organic framework for resilient mechanical energy harvesters — Chuzhan Jin, Debayan Mondal, Jiahao Ye et al.
Abstract licence: CC0
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper. This is a preprint, so it hasn't necessarily been peer reviewed.