Work-function regulated bacterial cellulose-based triboelectric nanogenerator for sensing and indoor power monitoring

Tuning work function/roughness of BC tribological layers using BTO@PDA@Ag hybrid NPs. • This work enables advanced nanoenergy devices for energy harvesting and self-powered sensing. • The TENG supplies power for electronics, monitors human movement and saves indoor circuit energy. Bacterial cellulose (BC) represents a sustainable, low-cost, and biocompatible natural polymer, which serves as an ideal substrate for fabricating triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). Nevertheless, its intrinsic work function restricts the upper limit of device output performance. Herein, strawberry-like BaTiO₃ (BTO)@polydopamine (PDA)@Ag hybrid nanoparticles are incorporated into BC substrates, and a BC/BTO@PDA@Ag composite triboelectric layer with tunable work function and surface roughness is fabricated via vacuum-assisted filtration. Benefiting from precise regulation of triboelectric charge density and effective contact area of the composite film, charge transfer between the composite membrane and P(VDF-TrFE) film is greatly promoted. The as-prepared TENG achieves an open-circuit voltage ( V oc ) of 12.92 V, a short-circuit current ( I sc ) of 1.38 μA, and an output power density of 41.60 μW/cm 2 . It can directly drive small electronic components such as LEDs without external charging capacitors and realize real-time perception of various human body motions. Furthermore, an intelligent indoor energy-saving control system is developed based on this TENG. The system judges the presence or absence of indoor occupants to switch the on–off state of indoor circuits automatically. This work delivers a feasible strategy for developing next-generation nanoenergy devices targeted at energy harvesting and self-powered sensing applications. Download: Download high-res image (251KB) Download: Download full-size image