Improved performance of nanogenerator via synergetic piezo/triboelectric effects of lithium niobate microparticles embedded composite films

Abstract

Harvesting energy from renewable energy resources is an emerging research area to fulfil the globally rising energy demand owing to the enormous usage of various portable electronic systems. Mechanical energy is one of them and available abundantly in everyday human life such as ocean wave, human motion, raindrop fall, rotation energy, etc. Herein, the ferroelectric lithium niobate (LiNbO3) microparticles are prepared by a solid-state reaction technique and further utilized for the fabrication of nanogenerator to efficiently harvest these mechanical energies. Ferroelectric materials exhibit much higher piezoelectric coefficients and a strong electric dipole movement, thus resulting in higher electrical performance of corresponding nanogenerators. Therefore, the as-prepared LiNbO3 is used to comparatively study the electrical performance of piezoelectric, triboelectric, and hybrid nanogenerators, respectively. In this regards, a composite layer is developed by incorporating the LiNbO3 into the triboelectric polymer (i.e., polydimethylsiloxane) to develop distinct types of nanogenerators and their electrical output performance is examined. Consequently, the hybrid nanogenerator (HNG) exhibits relatively higher performance as compared to the others, thanks to synergetic piezoelectric and triboelectric effects. Furthermore, the concentration of LiNbO3 added into the composite is further optimized to realize the highest electrical performance of HNG and it also exhibits good electrical stability and mechanical durability. Eventually, practical applications of the power generated by the HNG are further demonstrated to operate portable electronics.