Triboelectric nanogenerator based on 317L stainless steel and ethyl cellulose for biomedical applications

Abstract

For the application of implanted medical devices, a sustainable energy supply is crucial to avoid the traditional battery that is of high risk and can lead to the need for second surgery. The development of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) provides a new approach to supply green energy. Here, we demonstrate a biomedical TENG based on tribo-electrification and electrostatic induction between biocompatible medical 317L stainless steel (317L SS) plate and ethyl cellulose (EC) film. The surfaces of both 317L SS and EC were designed using lithography technology and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etching, respectively. The mechanism and power output of the TENG as well as the effective sliding friction on the tribo-interface were investigated. It was found that with an increase of designed pattern density on the surface of 317L SS by using a designed lithography mask and EC by increasing the ICP etching power, the power output of the TENG was greatly increased. At the optimum condition, the open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current of TENG can reach 245 V and 50 μA. The performance of the TENG in biological medicine was also studied. On increasing the time of the TENG immersed in simulated body fluid for a month, its performance was not changed obviously. These results reveal that our biocompatible TENG has great potential applications in biomedical science.