High-performance triboelectric nanogenerator via photon-generated carriers for green low-carbon system

Enhancing the surface charge density and reducing the output impedance via innovative techniques are essential to accelerate the commercialization of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). However, methods for increasing output performance have numerous limitations, e.g., lacking efficiency and stability. Thus, it is necessary to investigate more practical and efficient strategies to improve the output of TENGs. Here, we leveraged the charge traps generated from photon-carriers through semiconductor materials of TiO2/g-C3N4 to boost the TENG output performance. First, the output performance of the TENG can be enhanced by optimizing the dielectric properties of the triboelectric film. Additionally, the photon-generated carriers enable the semiconductor materials to act as charge traps, further enhancing the output performance. Thusly, the peak power of TENG achieves 4.23 mW/cm2 at the impedance of 3 MΩ, giving over 9.4-fold enhancement for power and a 40 % reduction in impedance compared with pure TENG. What’s more, this is the first study to combine the high-performance TENG with the electrostimulation-coupled biosynthesis polyhydroxy butyrate (PHB) system to find a new method to address plastic pollution and environmental protection issues. The biodegradable PHB production increases from 0.752 mg/ml to 0.996 mg/ml under high-current stimulation from TENG. This technology enables rapid and efficient production of bio-based plastic, which has the potential to accelerate carbon neutrality.