Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) for harvesting mechanical energy are attracting significant research interest due to their simple mechanism and high power density which introduce them as promising device for small size and portable smart electronics. Developing green TENGs by application of biodegradable and biocompatible materials for harvesting energy is required for the current modern society. However, compared with synthetic materials, the biomaterials generate rather lower charge by contact electrification and improving of output power of bio-TENGs still remains a challenge. Cellulose, the most abundant biopolymer, is a strong, light-weight, flexible, and durable sustainable material that can be used for TENG fabrication. In this study, we introduced diatom bio-silica as a biomaterial additive to enhance the output performance of cellulose-based TENG. Having a highly porous three dimensional (3D) structure decorated with features at nanoscale, large surface area, abundancy, and low price make diatom frustule an excellent candidate material for bio-TENGs. Diatom frustule-nanocellulose bio-composite is mechanically strong, electron-rich, and low-cost and frictionally rough which enhanced the output performance of bio-TENGs. In addition, cytotoxicity study and s biocompatibility test on rabbit skin suggested that the diatom frustule-nanocellulose composite was biologically safe. Moreover, a practical application of the DF-CNF TENG was examined with a self-powered smart mask for human breathing monitoring.
Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) can be utilized as power sources of wearable devices because of flexibility, light weight and cost effective devices. However, materials utilized in the wearable devices should be carefully selected to avoid side effects to the human body. In this work, we developed a chitosan-diatom (CD) composite film for triboelectric nanogenerators(TENGs) and fabricated a skin-attachable motion sensor. The CD film was composed of the chitosan and diatom silica. All of materials are biomaterials which cannot cause side effects. The biocompatible diatom silica embedded in the chitosan film enhanced the positive charge density of the chitosan film. The CD film was assembled with the fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) film for a contact and separation TENG. The maximum instantaneous power density was 468 mW/m2, which was 3.5 times higher than the chitosan film. Furthermore, the skin-attachable motion sensor was developed base on the CD TENG. We believe this work can provide the simple and safe way to increase the performance of biocompatible TENGs for wearable devices.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.