ABSTRACT
Triboelectric polymers have attracted extensive attention due to their great electron-accepting and electron-donating properties in contact electrification as well as their flexible and low-cost merits and have become promising electrode materials in triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). However, most research has exclusively focused on improving the electron capture capability of the triboelectric layer, neglecting to enhance the electron-donating capability, which leads to a low output performance of TENG and limits its practical application. In this study, we developed a method to fabricate highly tribo-positive Nylon-11 film through roll-to-roll processing. Paired with the poly(tetrafluoroethylene) triboelectric layer, the transferred charge density of contact-separation TENG based on Nylon-11 film prepared by this method reaches 291.1 µC/m2, which has been improved by 12.4% compared with the conventional compression molding sample. The novel fabricating method can regulate the surface functional groups to achieve higher surface potential and obtain a favorable pseudohexagonal crystal phase, leading to an increasing transferred charge density in triboelectrification. Additionally, it has been analyzed that higher chemical potential of materials can facilitate the transfer of electrons from the triboelectric polymer surface. This study provides a nonadditive, simple, and effective strategy to fabricate excellent tribo-positive material, which can significantly enhance the performance of TENG.
ABSTRACT
The rational utilization and circulation of multiple energy sources is an effective way to address the crises of energy shortages and environmental pollution. Herein, microextrusion compression molding, an industrialized polymer molding technology that combines melt blending and compression molding, is proposed for the mass production of a bioinspired micro/nanostructured polyethylene/poly(ethylene oxide)/graphene (MN-PPG) film. The MN-PPG film exhibits robust shape stability, high storage energy density, and excellent thermal management capability owing to the cocontinuous network formed by poly(ethylene oxide) and the polyethylene matrix. The MN-PPG film has sufficient photothermal property due to the uniformly dispersed graphene nanosheets and the bioinspired surface micro/nanostructures. Interestingly, the MN-PPG film surface exhibits durable superhydrophobicity, acid/alkali resistance, and active deicing performance. Further, a multifunctional energy harvesting and circulation system was established by integrating the MN-PPG film, an LED chip, and a thermoelectric module. The hybrid system produced an open-circuit voltage of 315.4 mV and power output of 2.5 W m-2 under 3 sun irradiation. Furthermore, the afterheat generated by the LED chips at night can be converted into electricity through thermoelectric conversion. The proposed method enables the large-scale fabrication of multifunctional phase change composites for energy harvesting in harsh environments.