In this era of the Internet of Things, the triboelectric
nanogenerator
(TENG) is one of the first green-energy technologies that can convert
random mechanical kinetic energy into electricity for self-powered
mobile electronics. Even with its strengths, such as ease of fabrication,
flexibility, compactness, and high electrical output, TENG still has
some weaknesses, including weak durability and low resistance to harsh
conditions. These weaknesses limit the practical applications of TENG,
particularly in industrial sectors. As a resolution of these issues,
this paper proposes a tribo-electret, which can make amends for typical
TENG imperfections on the basis of a surface-patterned high-temperature-resistant
thermoplastic. The customizable honeycomb-patterned polyimide (hc-PI), fabricated by a simply scalable improved phase separation
method, compensates for the aforementioned issues due to the fact
that PI is an excellent heat-resistant flexible thermoplastic with
ideal mechanical properties, and the dead-end pore honeycomb pattern
array enables it to optimize the electrification efficiency of TENG.
Our TENG device possesses an outstanding output power of 1.05 W m–2, which is an enhancement of 22 times in comparison
to that of a TENG assembled with normal flat PI. Furthermore, an excellent
durability of 20000 contact–separation cycles was obtained
and the perfect honeycomb patterns still remained afterward. More
interestingly, our present TENG exhibited an upward trend in the output
voltage at elevated temperatures, and for the first time, it was tested
at a working temperature of up to 200 °C. The newly developed hc-TENG achieves a great convergence among excellent flexibility,
thermostability, durability, and superior electrical output. This
will greatly contribute to the development of future self-powered
electronics and sensors applied in harsh environments.
Porous graphene oxide-surfactant/poly(lactic acid) (GO-S/PLA) nanocomposite film with highly ordered hexagonal pore arrangement was fabricated via a combination of ionic interaction-supported GO dispersion and the improved phase separation method. First, a flat nanocomposite film is prepared by coating a welldispersed GO-S/PLA solution on a solid substrate. Subsequently, the film is exposed to a mixture of chloroform and methanol as a suitable volatile solvent/ nonsolvent pair for both PLA and surfactant-grafted GO sheets. A monolayer of honeycomb patterns is spontaneously formed on the nanocomposite surface after complete evaporation of liquids under normal air conditions. Methanol plays a crucial role in effectively inducing and controlling the ordered honeycomb structures. The pore array features, which include pore diameter and pore density, are tuned by adjusting methanol content. Moreover, the patterned GO-S/PLA nanocomposite demonstrates as an efficient electrification component for highperformance triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) owing to a large surface area and abundant electron-donating groups of GO sheets. A new TENG is composed of the honeycomb GO-S/PLA (hc-GO-S/PLA) and its replica of microdomepatterned polydimethylsiloxane (md-PDMS), as a pair of tribo-components with antagonistic friction surfaces. As a result, it can generate an output power of 0.54 mW cm À2 which is 8.6 times higher than that of TENG with a flat surface and without GO additives. We believe that hc-GO-S/PLA nanocomposite has potential applications in biotechnology, optics, and catalyst fields.
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