Enhancement of triboelectric nanogenerator output performance by laser 3D-Surface pattern method for energy harvesting application

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is a predominant method for converting ubiquitous mechanical energy into electrical energy using the triboelectric effect. Enhancement of charge generation in the TENG device is a major challenge to be addressed. Recently, laser surface patterning (LSP) has been proven to be an effective technique in improving triboelectrification. LSP process uses the photophysical mechanism for the formation of micropatterns. In this work, micro patterns such as circle, line and X patterns were developed on the PET substrate using continuous-wave fibre laser of wavelength 1064 nm. The LSP process has enabled the development of consistent architecture with more efficient surface morphology as compared to conventional surface replication and few lithography processes. The line patterned TENG has shown better triboelectric performances compared to pristine and other patterned TENG devices. The triboelectric short circuit current, open circuit voltage and power density of the line patterned TENG device was 0.46 μA, 36 V and 0.8 μW/cm2 respectively. The mechanical endurance of the line patterned TENG device was demonstrated for 10000 cycles without any significant loss in the performance. The maximum electrical energy generated from TENG device was stored in 1 μF commercial capacitor and three blue LEDs were powered up using the stored energy. Furthermore, theoretical simulation has been carried out to confirm the effective output performance of patterned TENG device. Hence, the proposed TENG has been found to be highly reliable and suitable for powering the low power electronic devices.