Abstract
The ocean harbors immense energy with the potential to benefit humanity through judicious utilization, yet concurrently poses threats to marine structures. Traditional approaches have focused on harnessing wave energy or protecting against wave scouring damage individually, often overlooking the dialectical treatment of wave energy. This study introduces a novel concept, aiming to convert wave scouring damage into opportunities for advancing marine structure protection technology through the development of a wave-energy harvesting protective layer. This groundbreaking protective layer integrates an X-shaped triboelectric nanogenerator (X-TENG) with a surface protection coating, effectively buffering wave forces, and converting wave energy into electric energy based on its fundamental role in preventing ion diffusion. Furthermore, the protective layer energizes a cathodic protection system for rebar protection, thereby, providing double-effect protection for marine reinforced concrete through anticorrosion and wave force buffering. Our investigation systematically explores the performance of the X-TENG-based multifunctional protective layer, revealing highly promising results. This breakthrough solution has the potential to revolutionize marine structure protection, offering a sustainable and reliable approach to enhance the operational stability and service life of marine equipment.