Polyaniline Nanostructures Embedded Ethylcellulose Conductive Polymer Composite Films-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Mechanical Energy Harvesting and Self-Powered Electronics

The fast growth of wearable/portable electronics and the demand for highly effective and long-lasting self-powered systems to support their off-grid operation have significantly increased. Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), a promising energy-harvesting technology, have attracted research interest in recent years for wearable and self-powered portable electronic applications. In this report, conductive polyaniline (PANI) nanostructures (NSs) were synthesized via a facile chemical oxidation polymerization method. The synthesized PANI NSs were embedded into a triboelectric ethylcellulose (EC) polymer to form a conductive polymer composite film (PANI/EC-CPCF), which enhances the triboelectricity and electrical conductivity of the CPCF. The prepared PANI/EC-CPCF layer and commercially available fluorinated ethylene propylene were employed as positive and negative triboelectric materials, which are used to construct a TENG device. The output electrical performance of the fabricated TENGs was studied and optimized systematically by varying the filler amount of PANI NSs in the EC polymer. The optimized TENG exhibited high output voltage, current, charge density, and power density values of ∼130 V, ∼5 μA, ∼45 μC/m2, and ∼650 mW/m2, respectively. Furthermore, the robustness analysis and mechanical stability of the TENG were studied under a long-term durability test for several days. Finally, the practical and real-time applications of the proposed TENG were demonstrated by varying the environmental conditions and harvesting mechanical energy from daily human actions in a living environment, which is used to power several low-power electronic gadgets.