Honeycomb-like nanofiber based triboelectric nanogenerator using self-assembled electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) nanofibers

Abstract

In this study, a honeycomb-like nanofiber based triboelectric nanogenerator (HN-TENG) is presented. In order to fabricate the honeycomb-like nanofiber, we utilized self-assembly of electrospun poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE)) nanofibers. The honeycomb-like P(VDF-TrFE) nanofiber network was directly produced via electrospinning without any additional processing. The HN-TENG showed a maximum voltage, current, and power density of 160 V, 17 μA, and 1.6 W/m2, respectively. The power density was enhanced more than twofold as compared with a typical flat nanofiber network based TENG due to the large surface area and high surface roughness of the honeycomb structure. Finally, we verified that HN-TENG has the potential to be used for practical applications by driving 100 light emitting diodes and charging capacitors.