Performance-enhanced of triboelectric nanogenerator based on functionalized silicone with pumice for energy harvesting

Abstract

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are one of the technologies of obtaining clean energy, have become one of the interesting methods in recent years. Although TENGs have advantages such as low cost, easy fabrication, lightweight, and wide range of use, their low output values limit their use in commercial applications. In this study, we investigated the output performance of a silicone sealant and glass fiber based TENG by doping pumice to a silicone sealant matrix. According to the experimental studies, the output performance of TENG improved with increasing pumice addition and the highest output voltage was obtained for the TENG fabricated with 2.5 wt% pumice doping silicone. The highest power density was obtained with 2.5 wt% pumice doped silicone as 23.65 mW. Also, it was observed that the TENG output power was increased by 36.9% with pumice doping in the silicone sealant matrix. It was demonstrated that pumice doping has a great effect on surface roughness, dielectric constant, and dielectric loss which affect the TENG performance. As a result of this study, it was concluded that the TENG output performance could be enhanced and fabrication cost could be reduced with pumice as natural doping material.