New Fabrication Design of Triboelectric Nanogenerators Provides Better Performance in Preventing Mosquito-Borne Diseases

A group of Chinese researchers developed a new approach to controlling mosquito populations using a more efficient design of safe generators that can destroy mosquitoes and reduce mosquito-borne diseases.

Conventional methods of eliminating mosquitoes include chemical extermination and physical extermination. However, using chemical substances can threaten human health, while using high voltages to zap insects requires a continuous power supply.

(Photo: Pexels/ Jimmy Chan)

According to Xuhua Guo from the Ocean University of China, "It is highly urgent to develop a non-toxic, self-powered, and safe high-voltage power source to prevent diseases spread by mosquitoes, especially in isolated islands or remote/poor areas where supplying electricity is difficult."

Redesigning Mosquito Zappers for Better Performance

Creating self-powered triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) is a promising solution to this problem. TENG converts low-frequency mechanical energy into electrical energy to harvest static electricity. The unique combination of high voltage and low current allows the TENG to be designed inexpensively. It only requires various fabrication materials while maintaining high efficiency with a high-output voltage.

Recently, scientists have aimed to boost TENG's charge density and improve its output performance. To make this possible, a research team led by Dr. Xiaoyi Li proposed a new TENG fabrication design called a high-performance rotary triboelectric nanogenerator (R-TENG). The new design uses a custom-made air-breakdown model and a ferroelectric nanocomposite interlayer.

In the basic design of TENG, electric charges and electric potential are initiated in and between the contact surfaces of the generator. An intermediate layer is included in the R-TENG design to level up the generator's performance. This layer contains highly oriented barium titanate nanoparticles that can boost surface charge density and retain triboelectric charges.

According to Guo, they fabricated the self-powered high-voltage disease prevention system based on the high-performance R-TENG. He claims that the new design does not only kill mosquitoes effectively, but it also can destroy bacteria in the surroundings.

The result of the study reveals that using management circuits can boost the output voltage to reach 6kV with the ability to light over 3,420 LEDs continuously. In the future, the team plans to focus on improving the performance of TENG and promoting its applications in the commercial setting.

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Dangers of Mosquito-Borne Diseases

Mosquitoes are regarded as the most dangerous creature on Earth as it has killed more people than all the wars in history. Some common diseases mosquitoes transmit include malaria, dengue, yellow fever, Zika, West Nile virus, and chikungunya.

Every year, around 390 million people are diagnosed with dengue across different parts of the globe. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands are reportedly infected with Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever. Mosquitoes also transmit malaria, which infects almost 200 million people annually.

By the year 2050, half of the world's population is expected to be at risk of arboviral infection. As the geographical distribution of mosquitoes shows a rapid increase, they continue to contribute to global mortality and morbidity.

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