WS2-based inorganic triboelectric nanogenerators with light-enhanced output and excellent anti-aging ability

Conventional triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) usually use polymer as friction layers, because polymer usually has large electronegativity differences and reliable frictional recovery properties. In recent years, inorganic material-based TENG has drawn attention due to its much higher resistance to high-temperature aging, light aging, and fatigue resistance than polymer. However, the performance of TENG with aging has not been fully studied. In this work, pure inorganic TENG based on WS2 and ITO glass was prepared, achieving a short-current (ISC) of 0.3 μA and an open voltage (VOC) of 30 V in the dark. Particularly, the current output of the nanogenerator could be enhanced to 0.61 μA under illumination. In addition, accelerated aging experiments indicated that the inorganic nanogenerator had a good improvement in performance degradation compared to most conventional polymeric nanogenerators. Based on this work, WS2-based inorganic TENGs have stability advantages and may be fully used in a wider range of environments.