Authors: Chen, YH; Pu, X; Liu, MM; Kuang, SY; Zhan, PP; Hua, QL; Cong, ZF; Guo, WB; Hu, WG; Wang, ZL
ACS NANO
Volume: 13 Issue: 8 Pages: 8936-8945 Published: AUG 2019 Language: English
Document type: Article
DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.9b02690
Abstract:
The viable application of soft electronics/robotics relies on the development of power devices which are
desired to be flexible, deformable, or even self-healable. We report here a shape-adaptive, self-
healable triboelectric nanogenerator (SS-TENG) for harvesting biomechanical energies. The use of a
viscoelastic polymer, normally known as Silly Putty, as the electrification material and as the matrix
of a carbon-nanotube-filled composite (CNT-putty) electrode endows the SS-TENG the capability of
adapting to arbitrary irregular surfaces and instantaneous healing from mechanical damage (almost
completely recovered in 3 min without extra stimuli). Furthermore, the output performances of the SS-
TENG have also been significantly improved because (i) the ideal soft contact is achieved at the solid-
solid interfaces for more effective contact electrification and (ii) the introduced cation dopants make
the putty even more tribo-negative than polytetrafluoroethylene. The SS-TENG can be adhered to any curvy
surface, tailored, and reshaped into arbitrary configurations and utilized as a power supply for small
electronics, suggesting promising applications in soft electronics/robotics in the future.
Full Text: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsnano.9b02690