Development of a Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Joining of Silver Nanorods

Abstract On account of their excellent properties, 2D nanostructures beyond graphene, such as MoS2, have extensive applications. Given their quantum confinement effects, MoS2 monolayers could efficiently trap electrons as an intermediate layer between friction and electrode in triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) and successfully hinder their recombination and air breakdown, increasing their output. With the help of this phenomenon, a TENG called PS+PS/MoS2‐AHSG (PPMA) TENG is fabricated with an open‐circuit voltage of ≈1200 V and a short‐circuit current of 0.74 mA, and a maximum power of 11.27 mW. PPMA TENG consists of transparent polystyrene (PS) and PS/MoS2 as negative contact and storage layers. Also, the positive layer is a novel Alyssum homolocarpum seed gum (AHSG) layer, which is a natural polymer. This TENG could successfully light up 115 commercial light‐emitting diodes. PPMA TENG exhibits exceptional mechanical robustness so that after a decrease in its outputs, heating would activate the self‐healing mechanism, and the surface charge density could reach from 0.428 to 0.874 µC m−2, which is 82% of the initial value. To demonstrate the practical applications of PPMA TENG as a high‐voltage sustainable power source, it is successfully employed to perform a dielectrophoretic assisted welding of silver nanorods.