Overview
Arbok-Tribo is a new type of electrostatic generator that charges supercapacitors. Inside a sealed, low-pressure inert vessel, an electric motor drives a vortex of an ultralight, proprietary engineered-carbon powder produced in-house by Arbok. As the conductive flakes rub against dielectric (glass) walls, a triboelectric charge is separated and collected by an insulated central electrode, delivering high voltage into a supercapacitor bank. Output character: high voltage, low current. It is honestly a high-voltage generator and fast supercapacitor charger — not a net power source. Its edge is the working body: cheap, self-produced, and effectively non-degrading in service.
Applications
Primary use cases: fast charging / buffering of supercapacitor banks; cheap high-voltage source replacing bulky transformers; power for autonomous sensors and IoT without batteries; high-voltage electrostatic tasks (ionization, particle deposition); "store quietly, release instantly" pulsed loads.
Outputs/uses: high-voltage DC into supercapacitors; charge buffer for low-power electronics.
Users: sensor networks, remote/harsh-site electronics, HV supply applications.
Operating Principle
A motor-driven impeller lifts the engineered-carbon powder into a controlled vortex inside a sealed vessel held at reduced pressure in an inert (nitrogen) atmosphere. Triboelectric charge is generated at the carbon–dielectric boundary as flakes contact the glass/polymer walls; the walls (dielectric) hold the separated charge, and an insulated central electrode collects it and feeds the supercapacitors.
Why the design choices: the conductive working material loses charge against metal, so walls must be dielectric; moisture and oxygen are excluded to stop charge leakage and material degradation; operating pressure is set away from the Paschen minimum to avoid discharge. Energy balance: the device converts motor rotation into high-voltage charge — it is not net-energy-positive.
Key Parameters
Material (from Arbok's proprietary engineered-carbon materials platform): an ultralight, high-surface-area carbon powder exfoliated down toward near-single-atom-thick flakes, produced in-house at roughly $50/kg ($0.05/g) against $10,000–50,000/kg for comparable market graphene-class powders; in-house throughput up to 1 t/h.
Electrical (engineering estimates — bench confirmation required): collector voltage 1–5 kV (up to 5–10 kV open-circuit); collected current 0.05–0.5 mA; harvested electrical power ~0.3–2 W; motor draw 80–250 W. The vessel is bench-scale and charged with a modest quantity of the engineered-carbon powder sufficient to sustain a stable vortex; the assembly runs at reduced pressure under an inert nitrogen atmosphere, with impeller speed tuned to keep the powder suspended without driving excessive wall wear.
Architecture and Components
Sealed vessel with dielectric (glass/polymer) inner wall; reduced-pressure inert atmosphere; engineered-carbon powder charge; motor-driven impeller (vortex generator); insulated central collector electrode; supercapacitor bank; charge-conditioning/matching stage. One moving part beyond the fan.
Advantages
Technical: cheap, near-eternal working body (no chemical consumable); huge, constantly renewed contact area from a swirling powder vs flat triboelectric films; high voltage without transformers, oil, or copper coils; sealed inert environment prevents oxidation, dust-explosion and charge leakage.
Economic: working body ~$50/kg, self-produced at 1 t/h; supercapacitors give hundreds of thousands of cycles vs battery replacement.
Strategic: pairs with ARBOK's own graphene supercapacitor (in development) — generator and storage from one hand.
Integrations
Feeds ARBOK graphene supercapacitor (in development); part of Arbok's broader engineered-carbon materials platform (concrete, composites, sorbents, aerogels, high-temperature coatings).
Deployment & Operation
Stage: R&D bench. Next step: instrument a prototype and measure the five governing numbers — collector voltage, current, motor draw, supercapacitor bank capacity, and charge time — to convert estimates into a confirmed specification.
TRL
Low (concept / early R&D, ~TRL 2–3). The physics withstands scrutiny when scoped as a high-voltage generator; performance figures are unvalidated pending a bench prototype. NOT to be presented as an operating power plant or grid source.
Market Potential
Supercapacitor storage and cheap high-voltage generation. Arbok's engineered-carbon materials platform already lists "carbon powder → supercapacitors" as a recognized vertical. Fit: autonomous/IoT power, HV supply replacement, pulsed-power buffering.
Typical Project Economics
Working body ~$50/kg, effectively inexhaustible and non-degrading in a sealed inert vessel. Main energy input is the drive motor; the device is a converter/HV source, so value is in cheap high-voltage generation and supercapacitor buffering, not net energy yield.
Risk Factors
Energy balance: consumes more (motor) than it harvests electrically — must be positioned as an HV generator/charger, never as a net power source. Charge retention requires dielectric walls (conductive walls would bleed charge). Paschen-minimum discharge if operating pressure is wrong. All electrical figures are estimates — no bench validation yet. "Powerful"/kW claims are not supported.
Related Technologies
TEG-BETON · ARBOK-NaTEG · TRISTONE (TEG-Electroliser) · ARBOK-ORR (Oil Regeneration & Recover)