Engineered and Laser‐Processed Chitosan Biopolymers for Sustainable and Biodegradable Triboelectric Power Generation

Abstract

Recent advances achieved in triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) focus on boosting power generation and conversion efficiency. Nevertheless, obstacles concerning economical and biocompatible utilization of TENGs continue to prevail. Being an abundant natural biopolymer from marine crustacean shells, chitosan enables exciting opportunities for low-cost, biodegradable TENG applications in related fields. Here, the development of biodegradable and flexible TENGs based on chitosan is presented for the first time. The physical and chemical properties of the chitosan nanocomposites are systematically studied and engineered for optimized triboelectric power generation, transforming the otherwise wasted natural materials into functional energy devices. The feasibility of laser processing of constituent materials is further explored for the first time for engineering the TENG performance. The laser treatment of biopolymer films offers a potentially promising scheme for surface engineering in polymer-based TENGs. The chitosan-based TENGs present efficient energy conversion performance and tunable biodegradation rate. Such a new class of TENGs derived from natural biomaterials may pave the way toward the economically viable and ecologically friendly production of flexible TENGs for self-powered nanosystems in biomedical and environmental applications.

Nature Driven Bio‐Piezoelectric/Triboelectric Nanogenerator as Next‐Generation Green Energy Harvester for Smart and Pollution Free Society

“…a) Preparation of electrospun silk fibroin and electrospun silk fibroin nanofiber-networked film are shown schematically. [158] Copyright 2018, WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. c) Generated output voltages for electrospun and cast silk under 16.8 N force, 1 Hz frequency, and 10 ms pulse width.…”

A Flexible, Recyclable, and High‐Performance Pullulan‐Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator (TENG)

“…When it came to the composite films, the mechanical property and stretchability were modified with the introduction of various additives into pullulan. [24,40] When BSA and CMC were added into pullulan-based films, the B-P or C-P films ( Figure S7a,b, Supporting Information) demonstrated higher stretchability and tensile stress. It was assumed that the improved stretchability and weakened tensile stress were achieved with the absorption and retention of water molecular from the strong moisture absorption capacity of glycerol in the experimental condition.…”

“…On the one hand, the G-P TENG presented the best open-circuit voltage performance in the motion frequency range of 1-5 Hz. [24] On the other hand, when the motion frequency was more than 10 Hz, the F-P TENG was in possession of the www.advmattechnol.de optimal electric performance. Moreover, the abundant protonated hydrogen bonds could increase the tendency of G-P film to donate electrons to Kapton film.…”

“…Though the literature review, although the biomaterials (e.g., chitosan [24] and cellulose [25] ), used in the previous TENG researches, were abundant in raw materials, the as-obtained biomaterials were supposed to be processed with various treatments, which consumed multiple resources (electric, water, chemicals, etc.) and created by-products and wastes.…”

“…Thus, the natural biomaterialsbased TENGs [22] have immensely attracted the researcher's attentions with the merits of biocompatibility, low cost, and plentiful raw materials. [23][24][25] Wang et al [24] reported a biodegradable and flexible chitosanbased TENG (chitosan was derived from chitin) and explored the feasibility of laser processing of constituent materials. Jiang et al [25] developed various fully bioabsorbable natural-materials-based TENGs, which were used as an in vivo voltage source to accelerate the beating rates of dysfunctional cardiomyocyte clusters and improve the consistency of cell contractions.…”