Enhanced triboelectric output of PDMS-based composite film with bi-material filling and surface patterning

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are highly promising energy-harvesting devices that exhibit considerable potential for use in self-powered wearable electronics. Nano/microfillers and surface microstructure modification have been proposed to improve the triboelectric performance of TENGs. In this work, performance-enhanced flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was developed through bi-material (reduced graphene oxide/fluorinated ethylene propylene, rGO/FEP) modification and filtration-membrane-patterned surface microstructure. The rGO/FEP with high charge-inducing and -trapping capabilities can be used as the dielectric-enhanced filler for improving triboelectricity. Ordered micro-dents of 5–50 µm are created on the modified PDMS surface with an increased contact area of TENG. Compared with the pure PDMS, the modified PDMS film-based TENG could deliver a substantial enhancement in power density (0.87 mW cm −2 ) by 28 times. Further, the versatility of this device is demonstrated in human activity monitoring and capacitor charging. This work provided a simple, high-tunability, and scalable approach for improving the output performance of TENGs for biomechanical energy-harvesting devices that can be integrated into self-powering wearable electronics.