Highly flexible and flame-retardant aramid nanofiber composite papers for energy harvesting

• Published in: Journal of materials science & technology 2025-01, Vol.204, p.81-90
• Main Authors: Li, Zhihui, Chen, Yiming, Hang, Tianyi, Xu, Chenhui, Shen, Jiahui, Li, Xiping, Zheng, Jiajia, Wu, Zhiyi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aramid nanofiber; Energy harvesting; Flame retardancy; Joule heating
• ISSN: 1005-0302
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jmst.2024.02.076

•The highly flexible composite paper has good mechanical properties and can withstand more than 10,000 times its own weight.•The flexible composite paper exhibits exceptional flame-retardant properties along with controlled, high-efficiency, and stable Joule heating performance. At a low voltage of 2.0 V, the surface temperature reaches 156.8 °C within 10 s and remains stable over a period of 1800s.•The flexible composite paper-based TENG can power commercial computers, delivering an output voltage of 55.6 V under a working environment of 2 Hz and 7 N. When the external load is 10 MΩ, its maximum output power reaches 15.6 µW. In recent years, polymer-based triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have been increasingly applied in the field of flexible wearable electronics. However, the lack of flame retardancy of existing TENGs greatly limits their applications in extreme circumstances. Herein, an ultra-thin and highly flexible aramid nanofiber (ANF)/MXene(Ti3C2Tx)/Ni nanochain composite paper was prepared through vacuum-assisted filtration and freeze-drying technology. Owing to the synergistic effect between ANF and MXene, the composite paper not only possessed excellent mechanical properties, which were able to withstand over 10,000 times its own weight, but also exhibited outstanding flame-retardant and controllable Joule heating capabilities. Moreover, the mechanical energy capture characteristics of the composite paper-based TENG were evaluated, resulting in the open-circuit voltage (55.6 V), short-circuit current (0.62 μA), and transferred charge quantity (25 µC). It also could enable self-powering as a wearable electronic device with an instantaneous power of 15.6 μW at the optimal external resistance of 10 MΩ. This work is intended to set TENG as safe energy harvesting devices for reducing fire hazards, and will provide a new strategy to broaden the application ranges of TENG. [Display omitted]