Abstract

Herein, exploration of potential synthesis routes for developing key components for efficient, implantable, and bio-absorbable triboelectric nanogenerators was performed. Further, their triboelectric charging, thermal and infrared spectroscopic properties along with biocompatibility were investigated. To obtain polymers with improved triboelectric charging efficiency, copolymers of sorbitol and sebacic acid (PSS) and hexanediol and citric acid (PHC) were synthesized using polycondensation mechanism. Whereas a copolymer of citric acid, glutaric acid, 1,2-propanediol and 1,6-hexanediol (CHGP) was synthesized via sequential ring-opening, and polycondensation mechanisms. The synthesis pathways of PSS and PHC were used as described earlier, while CHGP copolymer was synthesized through a novel route. The triboelectric measurements of the synthesized copolymers demonstrated higher triboelectric surface charge – an order of magnitude higher than commercially available acid- and ester-terminated poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolides) (PLGA) elastomers. The measured values are up to two orders of magnitude higher than well-known triboelectric materials such as polydimethylsiloxane and polytetrafluorethylene. Thermal analysis of polymers performed through thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) displayed a typical degradation and phase change behavior, associated with copolymers. Moreover, revealing the effect of crosslinking in CHGP polymer on glass transition temperature (Tg), melting temperature (Tm) was analyzed. Finally, human skin fibroblasts were used to study the cytotoxicity of the polymers by using standard MTT cell proliferation assay. All of the investigated polymers exhibited some cytotoxicity, which was more expressed in case of CHGP. The fibroblast cell viability was notably higher in the presence of PSS and PHC. The distinctive collective properties of the investigated polymers enable the potential use as components of the implantable TENG devices in the future.

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