Enhanced Triboelectric Performance of Modified PDMS Nanocomposite Multilayered Nanogenerators

Abstract

Recently, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have been widely utilized to address the energy demand of portable electronic devices by harvesting electrical energy from human activities or immediate surroundings. To increase the surface charge and surface area of negative TENGs, previous studies suggested several approaches such as micro-patterned arrays, porous structures, multilayer alignment, ion injections, ground systems and mixing of high dielectric constant materials. However, the preparation processes of these nanocomposite TENGs have been found to be complex and expensive. In this work, we report a simple, efficient and inexpensive modification of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) using graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) fillers and a Na2CO3 template. This GNP-PDMS was chemically bonded using 3-aminopropylethoxysilane (APTES) as a linker with an electrode multilayer made by layer-by-layer deposition of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and poly(4-styrene-sulfonic acid) (PSS)-stabilized GNP (denoted as [PVA/GNP-PSS]n). A 33 wt.% Na2CO3 and 0.5 wt.% of GNP into a PDMS-based TENG gives an open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current density of up to ~270.2 V and ~0.44 μA/cm2, which are ~8.7 and ~3.5 times higher than those of the pristine PDMS, respectively. The higher output performance is due to (1) the improved surface charge density, 54.49 μC/m2, from oxygen functional moieties of GNP, (2) high surface roughness of the composite film, ~0.399 μm, which also increased the effective contact area, and (3) reduced charge leakage from chemical bonding of GNP-PDMS and [PVA/GNP-PSS]3 via APTES. The proposed TENG fabrication process could be useful for the development of other high-performance TENGs.

Designable Skin-like Triboelectric Nanogenerators Using Layer-by-Layer Self-Assembled Polymeric Nanocomposites

“…Few studies have focused on TMs assembled via the layer-by-layer (LbL) method, and several studies have reported some results that can be classified as LbL-assisted TMs, such as the surface modification of negative TMs for high humidity resistance TENG devices or metal-like conductive elastomer positive TMs . However, these required additional processing for use as a TENG device, showing a relatively low TENG output performance at a large contact load of approximately 90 N. This was not desirable for TENG applications; thus, our group has adopted a facile and inexpensive LbL assembly process that allows the production of ultra-thin films that can be coated on any structural surface. , We thus designed and fabricated a poly­(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and graphene nanoplatelet (GNP)-dispersive poly­(4-styrene-sulfonic acid) (PSS) bilayer (BL) film (denoted as [PVA/GNP-PSS] n ) as both an electrode and an electron donor. , The [PVA/GNP-PSS] 3 film-based TENG showed a good performance of ∼100 V and ∼4 μA. However, it still needs to be improved due to its low affinity to donate electrons (i.e., a high work function of ∼4.98 eV) .…”

“…33,34 We thus designed and fabricated a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and graphene nanoplatelet (GNP)-dispersive poly(4-styrene-sulfonic acid) (PSS) bilayer (BL) film (denoted as [PVA/GNP-PSS] n ) as both an electrode and an electron donor. 35,36 The [PVA/GNP-PSS] 3 film-based TENG showed a good performance of ∼100 V and ∼4 μA. However, it still needs to be improved due to its low affinity to donate electrons (i.e., a high work function of ∼4.98 eV).…”

Efficient Triboelectric Nanogenerator (TENG) Output Management for Improving Charge Density and Reducing Charge Loss

“…(c) GNP-PDMS preparation process. Reproduced with permission from ref . Copyright 2020, Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute.…”

Hydrogel‐based triboelectric nanogenerators: Properties, performance, and applications

“…The surface characteristics, such as surface area and topography, of the contact layer are key to improving the triboelectric effect induced by the contact between layers. In this sense, some studies seek to modify the surface of contact materials using chemical 120,121 or physical treatments. 122 Interestingly, Qi et al 94 opted for the fabrication of a nanofibrous and stretchable polyamide 6 (PA6) contact layer prepared by electrospinning (Figure 6A).…”