Effect of cilia microstructure and ion injection upon single-electrode triboelectric nanogenerator for effective energy harvesting

• Published in: Materials letters 2021-12, Vol.304, p.130674, Article 130674
• Main Authors: Seo, Jungyeun, Hajra, Sugato, Sahu, Manisha, Kim, Hoe Joon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biomechanics; Carbonyls; Cilia; Circuits; Electrical properties; Electrodes; Energy Harvesting; Ion Injection; Iron; Materials science; Microstructure; Nanoelectronics; Nanogenerators; Open circuit voltage; Performance evaluation; Polydimethylsiloxane; Power management; Power sources; Surface roughness; Triboelectric
• ISSN: 0167-577X; 1873-4979
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matlet.2021.130674

•Ion Injection by ion gun can instantly increase the output of triboelectric nanogenerator.•Cilia microstructure can improve the electrical performance of triboelectric nanogenerator.•A simple single electrode mode triboelectric nanogenerator is designed.•Biomechanical energy harvesting and powering low-power electronics are demonstrated. Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) can convert the waste mechanical energy into useful electrical energy and act as a sustainable power source for micro/nanoelectronics. The utilization of advanced surface designs and materials compositions can further enhance the performance of TENGs. A single-electrode mode TENG with cilia microstructures (C-TENG, abbreviated further) was fabricated from polydimethylsiloxane-carbonyl iron (PDMS-Fe) composite by using a simple and fast magnetic field-guided method and its energy harvesting performance was evaluated. The structures, electrical properties, and surface roughness were compared between the flat and cilia-formed PDMS-Fe composites. The single-electrode mode TENG based on PDMS-Fe 10 wt% gives an open-circuit voltage of 70 V, the peak to peak current output of 250nA, and the power density of 2.75 μW/cm2 at 30 MΩ. Further, the ion injection was applied to the PDMS-Fe 10 wt% composite films using an antistatic gun, and it doubles the voltage output of the device. C-TENG can convert biomechanical energy (i.e. wind blowing and finger tapping) into an electrical output. In addition, the powering of a calculator was showed by charging a commercial capacitor using a bridge rectifier circuit.