Revamping Triboelectric Output by Deep Trap Construction.

High output performance is critical for building triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) for future multifunctional applications. Unfortunately, the high triboelectric charge dissipation rate has a significant negative impact on its electrical output performance. Herein, a new tribolayer is designed through introducing self-assembled molecules with large energy gaps on commercial PET fibric to form carrier deep traps, which improve charge retention while decreasing dissipation rates. The deep trap density of the PET increases by two orders of magnitude, resulting in an 86% reduction in the rate of charge dissipation and a significant increase in the charge density that can be accumulated on tribolayer during physical contact. The key explanation is that increasing the density of deep traps improves the dielectric's ability to store charges, making it more difficult for the triboelectric charges trapped by the tribolayer to escape from the deep traps, lowering the rate of charge dissipation. This TENG has a 1300% increase in output power density as a result of altering the deep trap density, demonstrating a significant improvement. This work describes a simple yet efficient method for building TENGs with ultra-high electrical output and promotes their practical implementation in the sphere of the Internet of Things.

Visualization of Charge Dynamics when Water Droplets Bounce on a Hydrophobic Surface.

Visualizing the motion of water droplets and understanding their electrification behavior holds significance for applications related to droplet transport, self-cleaning, and anti-icing/deicing and for providing a comprehensive explanation of the solid-liquid triboelectrification mechanism. Here, by constructing microcolumnar structures on the polytetrafluoroethylene surface, a water droplet-based single electrode triboelectric nanogenerator was fabricated for visualizing charge dynamics when a water droplet bounces on a hydrophobic surface. The motion state of the water droplet is closely linked to its electrification behavior through the integration of a high-speed camera and an ammeter. The electrification behavior stemming from the bounce of the water droplet is dynamically captured in real-time. The results show that the magnitude and polarity of the electrical signal have strong dependence on the motion state of the water droplet. For instance, when a water droplet approaches or moves away from the substrate in a single direction, a unipolar electrical signal is generated. However, when the water droplet reaches its limit in the initial motion direction, it signifies a static equilibrium state, resulting in the electrical signal being at zero. Furthermore, we examine the impact of factors such as impact speed, drop contact area, contact line spreading/retraction speed, and impact angle on electrification. Finally, based on the close relationship between poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) droplet bounce dynamics and electrical signals, the bouncing details of PEO droplets with different concentrations are tracked by electrical signals. This study digitally presents the whole process of droplet bounce in situ and provides a means for monitoring and tracking droplet movement.

Monolayer NbSe2 Favors Ultralow Friction and Super Wear Resistance.

The urgent demand for atomically thin, superlubricating, and super wear-resistant materials in micro/nanoelectromechanical systems has stimulated the research of friction-reducing and antiwear materials. However, the fabrication of subnanometer-thick films with superlubricating and super wear-resistant properties under ambient conditions remains a huge challenge. Herein, high-quality monolayer (ML) NbSe2 (∼0.8 nm) with ultralow friction and super wear resistance in an atmospheric environment was successfully grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) for the first time. Moreover, compared with few-layered (FL) NbSe2, ML NbSe2 has a lower friction coefficient and better wear resistance. On the basis of density function theory (DFT) calculations, the adhesion and the degree of charge transfer between ML NbSe2 and the substrate is larger than that of the topmost layer to the underlying layers of NbSe2 with two or more layers, which can be used to explain that the ML NbSe2 favors ultralow friction and super wear resistance.

Macroscale Superlubricity with Ultralow Wear and Ultrashort Running-In Period (∼1 s) through Phytic Acid-Based Complex Green Liquid Lubricants.

Liquid superlubricity has attracted much attention, due to its ability to significantly reduce friction on the macroscale. However, the severe wear caused by the long running-in period is still one of the bottlenecks restricting the practical application of liquid superlubricating materials. In this work, the obtained polyethylene glycol-phytic acid (PEG-PA) composite liquid lubricants showed outstanding superlubricating properties (µ ≈ 0.006) for Si3N4/glass friction pairs with an ultrashort running-in period (∼1 s) under high Hertzian contact pressure of ∼758 MPa. More importantly, even after up to 12 h (∼700 m of travel), only about 100 nm deep wear scars were found on the surface of the glass sheet (wear rate = 2.51× 10-9 mm3 N-1 m-1). From the molecular point of view, the water molecules anchored between the two friction pairs have extremely low shear force during the friction process, and the strong hydrogen bond interaction between PEG and PA greatly improves the bearing capacity of the lubricant. This work addresses the challenge of liquid superlubricant simultaneously exhibiting low shear force and high load-carrying capacity and makes it possible to obtain liquid superlubrication performance with an extremely short running-in time.

Gas-liquid two-phase flow-based triboelectric nanogenerator with ultrahigh output power.

Solid-liquid triboelectric nanogenerators (SL-TENGs) have shown promising prospects in energy harvesting and application from water resources. However, the low contact separation speed, small contact area, and long contacting time during solid-liquid electrification severely limit their output properties and further applications. Here, by leveraging the rheological properties of gas-liquid two-phase flow and the Venturi-like design, we circumvent these limitations and develop a previously unknown gas-liquid two-phase flow-based TENG (GL-TENG) that can achieve ultrahigh voltage and volumetric charge density of 3789 volts and 859 millicoulombs per cubic meter, respectively. With a high-power output of 143.6 kilowatts per cubic meter, a 24-watt commercial lamp can be directly lighted by a continuous-flow GL-TENG device. The high performance displayed SL-TENGs in this work provides a promising strategy for the practical application of solid-liquid TENGs in energy harvesting and sensing applications.

Control of triboelectrification on Al-metal surfaces through microstructural design.

The instantaneous discharge of accumulated static charge due to contact electrification can cause irreversible damage to electrostatic-sensitive systems. Despite major advances in reducing tribo-charges, the problem remains intractable. Here, four alumina microstructures are fabricated on aluminum (Al) by combining chemical etching and anodic oxidation, and the effects of surface composition and structure on the triboelectric performance are studied by assembling them with a polytetrafluoroethylene membrane into a solid-solid triboelectric nanogenerator. The results show that the short-circuit current of the hierarchical nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide (micro/nano-AAO) modified Al is 8.77 times smaller than that of pristine Al, which is attributed to the reduced contact area and presence of an oxide film on the surface of the modified metal. By regulating the diameter of alumina nanotubes, a positive correlation between the contact area and the measured charge density is theoretically demonstrated, which establishes the size of the contact area as the main factor affecting triboelectric outputs. In addition, the micro/nano-AAO based phone shell could provide more effective electrostatic protection than that based on an acrylic coating. This novel regulation of the triboelectric output by microstructural design provides a new direction for the development of antistatic materials in a vacuum and non-grounded environment.

A New Reversible Thermosensitive Liquid-Solid TENG Based on a P(NIPAM-MMA) Copolymer for Triboelectricity Regulation and Temperature Monitoring.

Intelligent and highly precise control of liquid-solid triboelectricity is of great significance for energy collection and electrostatic prevention. However, most of the traditional methods are irreversible and complex, greatly limiting their applicability. Here, a reversible thermosensitive liquid-solid triboelectric nanogenerator (L-S TENG) is assembled based on P(NIPAM-MMA) (PNM) copolymer for tunable triboelectrification. Through temperature regulation, the conformation between acylamino and isopropyl groups changes with the interfacial wettability and triboelectricity of PNM. When the temperature rises from 20 to 60 °C, the contact angle of PNM rises from 22.49° to 82.08°, and the output of the PNM-based L-S TENG shows a 27-fold increase. In addition, this transformation is reversible and repeatable with excellent durability for up to 60 days. Other organic liquids, such as glycol, exhibit positive response to temperature for this PNM-based L-S TENG. Polymers including polymethylmethacrylic, polytetrafluoroethylene, and polyimide are verified to not have such thermo-sensitivity properties. In addition, a droplet-based wireless warning system based on PNM is designed and actuated for monitoring specific temperature. The introduction of thermal PNM not only provides new material for reversible manipulation of L-S TENG, but also provides a new method for designing highly sensitive temperature warning sensors.

Melamine/Silicone Hybrid Sponges with Controllable Microstructure and Wettability for Efficient Solar-Driven Interfacial Desalination.

Solar-driven interfacial evaporation (SIE) has received extensive attention as a very promising desalination technique to solve the fresh water shortage crisis. However, evaporation rate decline and salt-fouling during long-term SIE seriously hinder applications of solar evaporators. Here, we report the preparation of melamine/silicone (MS) hybrid sponges with controllable microstructure and wettability for efficient SIE by further combination with carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The MS sponges are synthesized by hydrolytic condensation and phase separation of two silanes in the melamine sponge. The microstructure and wettability of the MS sponges are highly controllable by the silanes concentration. The CNTs@MS solar evaporators have a unique three-tier hierarchical macro-/micro-/nanostructure, very low thermal conductivity as well as a superhydrophilic hull and a superhydrophobic nucleus. Consequently, the CNTs@MS solar evaporators show a highly stable evaporation rate of ∼1.75 kg m-2 h-1 without any salt precipitation during a long-term cyclic solar desalination of 3.5 wt % NaCl solution under 1 sun illumination. Furthermore, salt precipitation is completely hindered even during SIE of 20 wt % NaCl solution under 1 sun. The CNTs@MS solar evaporators are very promising for practical SIE because of their excellent performance and simple preparation method.

Muscle activation patterns and muscle synergies reflect different modes of coordination during upper extremity movement.

A core issue in motor control is how the central nervous system generates and selects the muscle activation patterns necessary to achieve a variety of behaviors and movements. Extensive studies have verified that it is the foundation to induce a complex movement by the modular combinations of several muscles with a synergetic relationship. However, a few studies focus on the synergetic similarity and dissimilarity among different types of movements, especially for the upper extremity movements. In this study, we introduced the non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) method to explore the muscle activation patterns and synergy structure under 6 types of movements, involving the hand open (HO), hand close (HC), wrist flexion (WF), wrist extension (WE), supination (SU), and pronation (PR). For this, we enrolled 10 healthy subjects to record the electromyography signal for NMF calculation. The results showed a highly modular similarity of the muscle synergy among subjects under the same movement. Furthermore, Spearman's correlation analysis indicated significant similarities among HO-WE, HO-SU, and WE-SU (p < 0.001). Additionally, we also found shared synergy and special synergy in activation patterns among different movements. This study confirmed the theory of modular structure in the central nervous system, which yields a stable synergetic pattern under the same movement. Our findings on muscle synergy will be of great significance to motor control and even to clinical assessment techniques.

Concealed Wireless Warning Sensor Based on Triboelectrification and Human-Plant Interactive Induction.

With the continuous development of artificial intelligence, the demand for sensors with simple preparation and strong concealment continues to increase. However, most of the high-sensitivity sensors have complex manufacturing methods, high costs, and single functions. In this paper, a sensitive motion sensor based on the triboelectric interaction between a living plant and the human body was designed to detect the real-time movements of human beings and provide danger warning. A certain relationship exists between the triboelectric signal and the distance between the plant and the human body, with effective signals being detected in the range of 1.8 m. In addition, the triboelectric signal generated by each person is unique like a fingerprint, which can be used for biometrics. On the basis of the triboelectric signal, a wireless character entry warning system is designed. This sensor can not only send out a wireless warning signal at a specific distance but also allow one to receive the warning information synchronously on a mobile phone in real time. The wireless movement sensor receives signals through a living plant, and it has the characteristics of convenient use, strong concealment, and shielding difficulty. This sensor has the potential to be widely used in person recognition, danger warning, and motion monitoring.

Manipulating Electrical Properties of Silica-Based Materials via Atomic Oxygen Irradiation.

Regulated triboelectrification has attracted considerable research attention due to its potential applications in harvesting energy and importance in antistatic protection. Irradiation is an effective and stable modification method due to its adjustable and uniform irradiation parameters. Moreover, atomic oxygen (AO) irradiation is an important component in the low earth orbit, which is a considerable factor for promoting triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) in the outer space. AO irradiation was utilized to manipulate the surface structure and chemical composition to regulate electrical properties. AO irradiation can increase electron-donating groups and enhance electrical positivity of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) films due to the transition from Si-C bonds to Si-O bonds. Therefore, different trends of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and polystyrene (PS) were caused by their TENG composition with irradiated PDMS. Tribocharge cross-over polarity and charge generation were prevented completely in PS- and PDMS-based TENGs by adjusting the irradiation time to 4.1 h. Short-circuit current enhanced from 5 to 22 µA and the output voltage increased from 160 to 760 V when PDMS films in PTFE- and PDMS-based TENGs were subjected to AO irradiation for 6 h. This study demonstrated that AO irradiation can manipulate triboelectric properties of silica-based materials, which are potential components for harvesting energy and preventing electrostatic hazard in the outer space.

New Self-Healing Triboelectric Nanogenerator Based on Simultaneous Repair Friction Layer and Conductive Layer.

A new self-healing triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) was fabricated by combining a temperature responsive polymer material of polycaprolactone (PCL) with flexible silver nanowires (Ag NWs), which could cope with the damages of TENGs in the long-term use of energy harvesting. Two different structured TENGs were designed to investigate their properties of self-recovery of the friction surfaces and conducting layers. When the top surface of the friction electrode is damaged, the healable PCL polymer will intenerate by heating and flow to the wound to realize the self-healing purpose. If the conductive layer at the bottom of the TENG electrode is also damaged, PCL will also drive the Ag NW network at the bottom of the electrode to move for healing during the heating process. This type of self-healing TENGs with a sandwich structure can exhibit a stable and high output performance with an output voltage of 800 V and a short-circuit current of 30 µA after several cutting-healing cycles, which can easily light up 372 commercial light-emitting diodes. This work proposes a simple and effective method to design a self-healing TENG, which has a widespread application prospect to prolong the life of TENGs for restoring the loss of output caused by rapid and repeated cutting.

New Hydrophobic Organic Coating Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Efficient and Stable Hydropower Harvesting.

Liquid-solid triboelectrification technology provides a new way to collect hydropower, while the high cost, complexity, and easily damaged microstructures of the triboelectric nanogenerator electrode materials highly limit their practical applications. In this study, a new type of organic coating triboelectric nanogenerator is fabricated using acrylate resin as the friction layer material. To further improve the solid-liquid triboelectrification performance and the hydrophobicity of the coating, fluorine-containing materials were added to the acrylic resin. As a non-microstructure-dependent film, its preparation process is simple and large area prepared, which can be achieved by modifying some commonly used anticorrosion and antifouling coatings in engineering. This packaged organic coating triboelectric nanogenerator provides good stability and high-output performance, which can easily light several commercial light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on a model ship by collecting the wave energy during the voyage. This new type of triboelectric nanogenerator based on the coating material has the advantages of simple process, low cost, and large-area preparation, which combines the performance of the coating itself with the power generation function, and have potential promising practical applications in ocean energy collection and utilization, self-powered sensing, and other fields.

Synthesis of Hollow Mesoporous TiO2 Microspheres with Single and Double Au Nanoparticle Layers for Enhanced Visible-Light Photocatalysis.

A facile method was used to prepare hollow mesoporous TiO2 and Au@TiO2 spheres using polystyrene (PS) templates. Au nanoparticles (NPs) were simultaneously synthesized and attached on the surface of PS spheres by reducing AuCl4- ions using sodium citrate which resulted in the uniform deposition of Au NPs. The outer coating of titania via sol-gel produced PS@Au@TiO2 core-shell spheres. Removing the templates from these core-shell spheres through calcination produced hollow mesoporous and crystalline Au@TiO2 spheres with Au NPs inside the TiO2 shell in a single step. Anatase spheres with double Au NPs layers, one inside and another outside of TiO2 shell, were also prepared. Different characterization techniques indicated the hollow mesoporous and crystalline morphology of the prepared spheres with Au NPs. Hollow anatase spheres with Au NPs indicated enhanced harvesting of visible light and therefore demonstrated efficient catalytic activity toward the degradation of organic dyes under the irradiation of visible light as compared to bare TiO2 spheres.

Tuning the Hydration and Lubrication of the Embedded Load-Bearing Hydrogel Fibers.

One of the most prominent properties of hydrogels is their excellent hydrolubrication that derives from the strong hydration of the gel network. However, excessive hydration makes hydrogels exhibit a very poor mechanical property, which limits their practical applications. Here, we prepared a novel composite surface of hydrogel nanofibers embedded in an anodic aluminum oxide substrate which exhibited both excellent lubrication and a high load-bearing capacity. Through the copolymerization of acrylic acid and 3-sulfopropyl methacrylate potassium salt, the gel network swelled sufficiently in aqueous solution and caused high osmotic pressure repulsion to bear heavy loads and hence exhibited excellent aqueous lubrication (µ ≈ 0.01). Notably, the friction coefficient of gels showed no dependence on the load in the experiment, whereas it was strongly influenced by the sliding velocity. Additionally, both electrolyte solution and ionic surfactants affect the conformation of the polymer chains, which results in a significant impact on the friction properties of hydrogel fibers.

Photothermally actuated interfacial hydration for fast friction switch on hydrophilic polymer brush modified PDMS sheet incorporated with Fe3O4 nanoparticles.

A near-infrared light triggered fast interfacial friction switch was achieved with polyelectrolyte brush grafted PDMS embedded with Fe3O4 nanoparticles, where the in situ heating up of the photothermal Fe3O4 nanoparticles in the polymer matrix changes the interface humidity and thereafter alters the hydration level of the interfacial polymer brushes.