Investigating the effect of variation of TiO2 nanoparticle concentration on the performance of nylon/TiO2 nanocomposite-based teng

This study explored the impact of varying concentrations of TiO2 NPs on the performance of TENGs made from nylon/TiO2 NCs. The TENGs were constructed using nylon films as one triboelectric material and polysiloxane (PS) as the other. Electrical measurements were performed to assess the TENGs' output parameters, such as open-circuit voltage and shortcircuit current, with different TiO2 concentrations (1%, 3%, and 5%). The findings revealed that increasing the TiO2 concentration initially enhances the TENG's performance. For example, TENGs based on 1% TiO2 NCs achieved maximum voltage and current values of 41.38 V and 2.5 µA, respectively, which are higher than those of ordinary nylon TENGs (30.36 V and 1.82 µA). This improvement is due to the increased dielectric constant of the NC material, which enhances charge storage capacity and boosts the TENG's output. However, when the TiO2 concentration is further increased (e.g., to 5%), the TENG's performance begins to decline. This drop is caused by the agglomeration of TiO2 NPs on the nylon surface, which reduces the active contact area between the nylon and PS films, weakening the triboelectric effect. Similar patterns were observed in TENGs with 3% and 5% TiO2 concentrations, where excessive TiO2 led to a decrease in output power due to uneven nanoparticle distribution.