science

Tribotronics

Tribotronics is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Tribotronics rather than just read about it. In short: Tribotronics is about the research on interaction between triboelectricity and semiconductor, which is using triboelectric potential controlling electrical transport and transformation in semiconductors for information sensing and active control (info-tribotronics), and using semiconductors managing triboelectric power transfer and conversion in circuits for power management and efficient utilization (power-tribotro…

Key takeaways

Tribotronics belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Tribotronics to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Tribotronics from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Tribotronics is about the research on interaction between triboelectricity and semiconductor, which is using triboelectric potential controlling electrical transport and transformation in semiconductors for information sensing and active control (info-tribotronics), and using semiconductors managing triboelectric power transfer and conversion in circuits for power management and efficient utilization (power-tribotronics).

Definition

The tribotronics can be divided into info-tribotronics and power-tribotronics. The tribotronic devices, such as tribotronic transistor, contact-gated OLED, touch memory, wind-enhanced photocell, sliding tunable diode, tactile sensing array, stretchable transistor and nanoscale transistor have all demonstrated controlled electronics by triboelectric potential for information sensing and active control, which are belonging to info-tribotronics. On the other hand, the power-tribotronics can demonstrate manageable triboelectric power by electronics for power management and efficient utilization, such as the tribotronic energy extractor, the power management module, and so on.

Mechanism

As a fundamental info-tribotronic unit, contact electrification field-effect transistor (CE-FET) composed of a metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) without top-gate electrode and a mobile layer is analyzed. Different from the conventional MOSFET, the externally applied gate voltage source is replaced by the mobile layer, which can vertically contact to and separate from the insulator layer by the external force. When the fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) film contacts with the insulator layer, the SiO2 has positive charges while the FEP has negative charges. When the mobile layer gradually separated, a positive inner gate voltage for the MOSFET is generated. Therefore, a depletion zone will be formed, which will decrease the channel width and thus the drain current. The CE-FET can be considered as the coupling of the MOSFET and the (triboelectric nanogenerator) TENG, in which the inner gate voltage can be generated and the carrier transport between drain and source can be tuned/controlled by the external contact instead of the conventional gate voltage.

To understand the potential maximal energy of TENG and develop the power management strategy, the cycles for maximized energy output of TENG (CMEO) are first elaborated. The output energy of TENG in one cycle E can be expressed in U-Q plot and calculated as the encircled area of the closed loop, where U is the built-up voltage and Q is the transferred charge. Meanwhile, the encircled area can be enlarged for CMEO by using a sequential switch. Although the energy could be maximally released to the resistor, the voltage is still a pulse high voltage that is not enough for directly powering the electronics. Therefore, the pulse high voltage should be converted to a steady low DC voltage, in which a classical DC–DC buck convertor is integrated to form an AC–DC buck conversion circuit. The DC–DC buck convertor is composed of a parallel freewheeling diode, a serial inductor, and a parallel capacitor that are connected in sequence between the switch and the resistor.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tribotronics

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tribotronics claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Tribotronics before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Tribotronics ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Tribotronics

In research: Tribotronics appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Tribotronics in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Tribotronics is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Tribology, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tribotronics outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Tribotronics in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tribotronics means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Tribotronics out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tribotronics in simple terms?

Why does Tribotronics matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Tribotronics?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Tribotronics.