Highly flexible and recyclable F–SiO2/MPU composites for self-powered active motion sensors

Abstract Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) with flexibility, recyclability, and high mechanical performance are highly desirable for self-powered active motion sensors. Herein, maleic anhydride and furan groups were introduced into the polyurethane and SiO2, respectively, to obtain furan modified SiO2 (F–SiO2) and maleic anhydride modified polyurethane (MPU). The dynamic crosslinked F–SiO2/MPU composites (FM) possessed the recyclability due to the Diels-Alder reaction. In addition, the mechanical properties of FM were improved due to the improvement of the interface compatibility between F–SiO2 and MPU. Especially, at 5 wt% content (FM-5), the tensile strength and elongation at break are 7.09 MPa and 845.61%, respectively. Compared with pure MPU, it has increased by 249.26% and 176.30%, respectively. Additionally, at 3 wt% F–SiO2 content, the short-circuit current (Isc), open circuit voltage (Voc), transferred charge (Qsc) and peak power density of FM-3 increased by 18.60%, 36.04%, 49.24% and 13.00%, respectively. This work offers new insights into the design and preparation of triboelectric nanogenerator for self-powered active motion sensors with flexibility, and recyclability.