Enhanced Performance Triboelectric Nanogenerator Based on Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/ Barium Titanite (BTO) / Graphene Quantum Dot (GQD) Nanocomposites for Energy Harvesting

Abstract

Abstract Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have been developed as promising energy-harvesting devices to effectively convert mechanical energy into electricity. A TENGs is using either organic or inorganic materials to initiate the triboelectrification process, followed by charge separation. In this study, a high-performance composite based triboelectric nanogenerators (CTENGs) device, based on PDMS as a polymeric matrix with BTO nano-powders (NPs) as dielectric fillers and graphene as conductive media was fabricated. The PDMS/BTO/GQD composite film was prepared with the GQD doped into the mixture of PDMS/BTO and mechanically stirred. The composition of GQD varied from 0 to 40 wt%. The composite was spin coated onto flexible ITO on PET sheet and dried in the oven at 80°C for 24 hours. The output performance of TENGs is enhanced by the increased concentration of 30 wt% GQD which is two times higher than nanocomposite films without GQD. The PDMS/BTO/G30 TENGs film showed an increase open-circuit voltage output (VOC), short-circuit current output (ISC) and power density reaching ~ 310.0 V, ~ 23.0 mA and 1.6 W/m2 respectively. The simple and scalable process for the PDMS/BTO/GQD TENGs would benefit as a sustainable energy harvesting system in small electronic devices.