Phonon-mediated-driven efficient heat dissipation endowing ultra-stable triboelectric nanogenerators with 0.46% decay over 16 km sliding

The sliding-mode triboelectric nanogenerators (S-TENGs) are highly promising for mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion, owing to their simple structural design and high charge transfer efficiency. However, their practical applications are severely restricted by inadequate long-term stability, which primarily stems from material wear and frictional heat-induced electron thermionic emission. Herein, we tackle both challenges via the synergistic regulation of phonon-mediated heat dissipation and interfacial wear resistance. Specifically, thermally conductive fillers are incorporated into a tetrafluoroethylene-hexafluoropropylene-vinylidene fluoride terpolymer matrix to significantly enhance phonon heat transfer, leading to a remarkable 38.1 °C reduction in the interface temperature, effectively restraining the electron thermionic emission effect. Notably, the optimized S-TENG demonstrates superior output stability, exhibiting only 0.46% output decay after 16 km sliding under a 20 N load, which corresponds to a 324-fold enhancement in operational stability. Meanwhile, a liquid lubricant is introduced into a porous thermoplastic polyurethane film to effectively reduce frictional resistance, thereby mitigating material wear. The resulting S-TENG exhibits exceptional mechanical robustness, as evidenced by minimal surface wear even following 100000 sliding cycles. This work presents an innovative strategy to enhance the durability and extend the lifespan of S-TENG devices, which has also been successfully implemented in a self-powered system.