Nature-inspired scalable high-performance triboelectric nanogenerators for energy harvesting and sensing

Abstract

Silk has recently demonstrated a promising application potential in wearable electronic devices owing to its attractive electron affinity. However, natural silk possesses poor extensibility, and fabricating high-performance silk-based triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) remains a challenge. In this paper, we propose a new method to construct the fibroin (SF)/sericin (SS)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/silver nanowires (AgNWs)/fluoro-nylon-TENG (FSPAG/F-TENG), which simultaneously achieves high electric outputs and remarkable flexibility with long-lasting durability. By employing SS rich in the amorphous domain and AgNWs with high electric conductivity, our proposed FSPAG/F-TENG can achieve a maximum voltage of 745 V and a current of 22.5 μA with a size of 2 × 2 cm2 at a load of 5 N at 3 Hz. This results in an ultrahigh power density of 760 μW/cm2, which exceeds most silk-based TENGs reported recently. We also analyze the potential mechanism of enhanced electrical outputs. The constructed device not only demonstrates desirable mechanical performance like excellent flexibility, extensibility, and wear-resistant after 30,000 cycles but also possesses self-sensing capabilities, making it an intelligent device for monitoring human gestures and powering various commercial electronics.