Triboelectric nanogenerator based on polyaniline nanorods incorporated PDMS composites through a facile synthetic route

Abstract

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) open up a new technique for developing green power sources through effective harvesting and conversion of mechanical energy. This work develops a novel TENG with room temperature cured polyaniline (PANI) /polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite. PANI/PDMS-based TENG exhibit an output voltage of 21.5 V, short-circuit current density of 0.8 mA/m² with 1.5 wt% of PANI nanorods in PDMS matrix. The addition of para-toluene sulfonic acid (p-TSA) doped PANI to the PDMS led to a more significant improvement of TENG output performance of the neat PDMS due to the electron donor-acceptor concept according to the triboelectric series. The effect of the concentration of PANI filler on the output performance of PANI/PDMS TENG is also analyzed. PANI/PDMS composites’ superior performances compared to neat PDMS are attributed to the intensified negative charges on PDMS from amine functional groups of PANI chains. Additionally, the ability of the prepared composite to light up the LEDs by simple finger tapping hints at the utility of the proposed composite material for power production by using unused mechanical energy from the ambient.