Effect of surface and contact points modification on the output performance of triboelectric nanogenerator

It is common to use a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. Enhancing charge generation within TENG device is a massive challenge. The current study has investigated the potential application of surface-modified aluminium foils using commercially available emery papers with different grit sizes. The Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) based on surface-modified Al substrates (SM-TENG) have shown higher triboelectric performances than plane aluminium-based TENG device. The triboelectric open-circuit voltage (Voc) and short circuit current (Isc) of the SM-TENG device were around 138.1 V and 27.78 µA, that was around 2.4 times and 2.5 times greater than plane aluminium-based TENG. This study offers an awfully straightforward and reasonable way to modify any surface. Further, we have introduced ZnS nanosheets (NSs) arrays on the surface-modified aluminium substrate by hydrothermal growth for increase in its effective contact area. The modified TENG with ZnS exhibited a Voc and Isc of ∼262 V and ∼ 56 µA, respectively, which were around 4.6 and 5 times than the plane aluminium-based TENG. The as-fabricated TENG shows a remarkable output power density of ∼1.325 W/m2 at a low load resistance of ∼2 MΩ. The mechanical sturdiness of the line patterned ZnS NSs based TENG device was also tested for ∼10,000 cycles with no noticeable performance degradation. This facile and inexpensive surface patterning process is advantageous in terms of practicality. In addition, the electrical energy produced by the TENG device was able to turn on 40 white LEDs, 56 green LEDs and 100 red LEDs individually. As a result, the suggested TENG has been evidenced reliable and applicable for powering low-power electronics devices.