USE OF TIO2 AS A REINFORCEMENT OF CASSAVA STARCH/PVA COMPOSITES ON MOISTURE-RESISTANT PROPERTIES OF TRIBOELECTRIC NANOGENERATOR (TENG) FILM

Abstract

High humidity environments can accelerate the transmission, neutralization, or dissipation of frictional charges on the frictional surface of solid-solid triboelectric nanogenerator films (TENGs), which can reduce the output power. The moisture resistance properties of the TENG triboelectric film are needed to overcome these problems. Therefore, this study discusses the role of the TiO2 nanofiller in cassava starch (CS) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanocomposite matrix that can increase triboelectricity through the formation of hydrogen bonds and the provision of oxygen-free electrons. The research method was to incorporate different concentrations of TiO2 nanoparticles (0%, 0.5%, 1%, 5%, 10% wt, and 15% wt) into the CS-PVA nanocomposite matrix using the solvent casting method. The results showed an increase in surface polarity which was more triboelectric-positive due to the CS-PVA hydroxyl group interacting with water molecules. Increasing the concentration above 5% wt TiO2 increases the density of the CS-PVA nanocomposite film which can significantly reduce water vapor permeability (WVP) and increase water resistance. The TENG performance of the CS-PVA/TiO2 nanocomposite film with a concentration of 15% wt TiO2 under conditions of high humidity (RH, 95%) resulted in an output voltage of 2.5-fold (~70.5 V to ~180 V), and the output current increased 2.6-fold (~5.2 μA to ~13.7 μA).