The fabrication of calcium silicate-natural rubber composite for mechanical energy harvesting

Abstract

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is an energy harvesting device that converts mechanical energy into electricity based on contact electrification or triboelectric effect and electrostatic induction. The density of triboelectric charges created upon contact electrification event is a key factor that governs energy conversion efficiency of TENG which is dependent on material types and contact area. In this work, the composites of natural rubber (NR) latex and calcium silicate (CS) materials are fabricated and used as triboelectric materials for TENG. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) is employed as a surfactant admixture to improve mixing compatibility of CS material and NR latex. The effect of NR latex content on the composite morphologies, microstructures, dielectric properties, compressive strength and the TENG performance are investigated. It is found that the CS-NR TENG with NR 60%wt can generated the maximum power density of 2.46 W/m2 under a vertical contact-separation mode. This is attributed to the improved surface contact area of the composites due to the addition of flexible NR polymer. This work has presented one of the effective strategies to modify triboelectric materials for enhancing the power output of TENG.