Polymer nanofiber based triboelectric nanogenerator for energy harvesting and self-powered electronics

Abstract

In this work, electrospun nanofibers (NFs) (ESPUNFs) of Polyurethane (PU) have been prepared through the electrospinning process. The prepared electrospun (ESPUNFs) shows the average fiber diameter ranges from 90-225 nm while the maximum number of fibers possess diameter of 135 nm. The prepared triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) with ESPUNFs (PU-TENG) demonstrates the output performance such as, open-circuit voltage ~ 2.3 V under 8kPa of compressive stress, approximated output power of 2.0 μW. The available maximum output load current is about 0.35 μA. The fabricated PU-TENG can turn on three light emitting diodes (LEDs). It is also found that the designed PU-TENG can charge up different capacitors (such as, 1μF, 2.2 μF and 4.7 μF) by repetitive compressive stress. This work shows a very simple and cost effective method to fabricate the triboelectric nanogenerator for self-powered flexible electronics.