Issue 10, 2017

A triboelectric generator based on self-poled Nylon-11 nanowires fabricated by gas-flow assisted template wetting

Abstract

Triboelectric generators have emerged as potential candidates for mechanical energy harvesting, relying on motion-generated surface charge transfer between materials with different electron affinities. In this regard, synthetic organic materials with strong electron-donating tendencies are far less common than their electron-accepting counterparts. Nylons are notable exceptions, with odd-numbered Nylons such as Nylon-11, exhibiting electric polarisation that could further enhance the surface charge density crucial to triboelectric generator performance. However, the fabrication of Nylon-11 in the required polarised δ′-phase typically requires extremely rapid crystallisation, such as melt-quenching, as well as “poling” via mechanical stretching and/or large electric fields for dipolar alignment. Here, we propose an alternative one-step, near room-temperature fabrication method, namely gas-flow assisted nano-template (GANT) infiltration, by which highly crystalline “self-poled” δ′-phase Nylon-11 nanowires are grown from solution within nanoporous anodised aluminium oxide (AAO) templates. Our gas-flow assisted method allows for controlled crystallisation of the δ′-phase of Nylon-11 through rapid solvent evaporation and an artificially generated extreme temperature gradient within the nanopores of the AAO template, as accurately predicted by finite-element simulations. Furthermore, preferential crystal orientation originating from template-induced nano-confinement effects leads to self-poled δ′-phase Nylon-11 nanowires with higher surface charge distribution than melt-quenched Nylon-11 films, as observed by Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM). Correspondingly, a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) device based on as-grown templated Nylon-11 nanowires fabricated via GANT infiltration showed a ten-fold increase in output power density as compared to an aluminium-based triboelectric generator, when subjected to identical mechanical excitations.

Graphical abstract: A triboelectric generator based on self-poled Nylon-11 nanowires fabricated by gas-flow assisted template wetting

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
11 May 2017
Accepted
09 Aug 2017
First published
14 Sep 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Energy Environ. Sci., 2017,10, 2180-2189

A triboelectric generator based on self-poled Nylon-11 nanowires fabricated by gas-flow assisted template wetting

Y. S. Choi, Q. Jing, A. Datta, C. Boughey and S. Kar-Narayan, Energy Environ. Sci., 2017, 10, 2180 DOI: 10.1039/C7EE01292F

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