Self-Powered Electrostatic Filter with Enhanced Photocatalytic Degradation of Formaldehyde Based on Built-in Triboelectric Nanogenerators

Recently, atmospheric pollution caused by particulate matter or volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has become a serious issue to threaten human health. Consequently, it is highly desirable to develop an efficient purifying technique with simple structure and low cost. In this study, by combining a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) and a photocatalysis technique, we demonstrated a concept of a self-powered filtering method for removing pollutants from indoor atmosphere. The photocatalyst P25 or Pt/P25 was embedded on the surface of polymer-coated stainless steel wires, and such steel wires were woven into a filtering network. A strong electric field can be induced on this filtering network by TENG, while both electrostatic adsorption effect and TENG-enhanced photocatalytic effect can be achieved. Rhodamine B (RhB) steam was selected as the pollutant for demonstration. The absorbed RhB on the filter network with TENG in 1 min was almost the same amount of absorption achieved in 15 min without using TENG. Meanwhile, the degradation of RhB was increased over 50% under the drive of TENG. Furthermore, such a device was applied for the degradation of formaldehyde, where degradation efficiency was doubled under the drive of TENG. This work extended the application for the TENG in self-powered electrochemistry, design and concept of which can be possibly applied in the field of haze governance, indoor air cleaning, and photocatalytic pollution removal for environmental protection.