Highly transparent and water-repellent hierarchical-wrinkled-architecture triboelectric nanogenerator with ultrathin plasma-polymer-fluorocarbon film for artificial triboelectric skin

Abstract

For scavenging energy from various places on the human body, multifunctional and comfortable triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG), that do not stimulate sensitive skin, are required. Therefore, it is essential to fabricate a TENG that is easy to deformation as well as biocompatible, ultrathin, and flexible. In this regard, we propose a hierarchical-wrinkled-architecture-TENG (HWA-TENG) with dual-wavelengths (microsize of 3.1 µm and nanosize of 311.8 nm). A plasma-polymer-fluorocarbon (PPFC) thin film was employed as a high-performance triboelectrification material, owing to its high surface charge potential, ultrathin thickness, transparency, and water repellency. The surface potential of the PPFC was extremely high at 7.28, which is comparable to that of bulk polytetrafluoroethylene. The surface area of HWA-TENG increased by as much as 3.5 % owing to the combination of the increased surface area effect of the HWA and high surface charge potential characteristics of the PPFC thin film, resulting in a high output performance of 200 V and 30 μA. The HWA-TENG can be successfully applied to triboelectric raindrops energy harvester and conformal artificial triboelectric skin. Owing to its eco-friendly, straightforward fabrication process, and high output performance, HWA-TENG can be used in several applications, including conformal TENGs for human body.