Surface engineering AgNW transparent conductive films for triboelectric nanogenerator and self-powered pressure sensor

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), originated from mechano-driven Maxwell’s displacement current, has shown great significance in harvesting low-frequency/high-entropy mechanical energy. To improve the electrical performances of TENG, surface engineering offers a facile and economical method by introducing electron donating/withdrawing groups. Here, we demonstrate a self-assembled monolayer (SAM)-assisted surface engineering strategy on AgNWs based transparent conductive film for TENG and self-powered pressure sensor. The SAM-assisted surface engineering provides an efficient means to tuning the surface potential and charge density of the friction layer by decorating different chemical functional groups. The chemical properties of decorated SAMs and their influence on TENG outputs are systematically investigated. The modified TENG exhibits an improved output performance (including open-circuit voltage of 300 V, short-circuit current of 23 μA, peak power of 1.24 mW, and power density of 1.4 W/m2), which can be readily used to drive commercial portable electronics. Furthermore, the modified TENG can be utilized as a self-powered pressure sensor with high sensitivity (221 V·kPa−1) and constructed into a pressure sensor array (4 × 4 pixels) for trajectory tracking. This work presents a universal method to tuning the electrical performance of TENGs and extends their potential applications toward low-power-consuming, highly sensitive, and multifunctional sensory devices and systems.