Synergistic improvement of output performance of bacterial cellulose-based triboelectric nanogenerators through dielectric and surface potential modulations

Sr 0.7 Bi 0.2 TiO 3 (SBT) relaxor ferroelectric and hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) are simultaneously added into the bacterial cellulose (BC) matrix, aiming to enhance the output performance of BC-based triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) in this work. The optimum open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current reach 1320 V and 36.12 µA, respectively, generating a high-area output power of 7.14 W/m 2 in the BC/SBT/HEC composites-based TENGs. The optimum power density is separately about 2.27, 1.56, and 1.32 times as high as that of pure BC-TENGs, BC/SBT-TENGs, and BC/HEC-TENGs, which is also better than those of TENGs using similar triboelectric layers. The output improvement can be ascribed to the dual modulation of dielectric constant as well as surface potential. This work offers a synergistic solution to design high output-performance cellulose-based TENGs.