Development of PVP/Graphite-based Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Energy Harvesting Applications

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have emerged as an attractive technology for harvesting energy for wearable electronic applications. Kapton and Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) are commonly used materials in TENGs owing to the high electronegativity in Kapton and the mechanical and electrical properties of PVP. However, the output performance of PVP-based TENG is hindered by limitations such as low charge transfer efficiency. Therefore, this study aims to optimize the performance of PVP-based TENGs by making a composite of PVP/graphite. Two electrodes were fabricated from PVP/graphite composite and Kapton with the size of 3x3 cm². The PVP/graphite composite thickness was 0.058 mm. The performance of TENG was assessed by measuring the maximum output voltage and the short-circuit current by contact separation mode. The PVP/graphite and Kapton TENG with an optimum mixture of 30 mg of graphite and 0.55 mg/ml of PVP yielded the maximum output voltage of 94 V and a short-circuit current of approximately 3 μΑ. A 2-µF miller capacitor connected to the TENG was charged by continuous tapping of the electrodes of the TENGs and the capacitor charged up to 178 V. The results indicated that the addition of graphite powder to PVP significantly enhanced the output performance of TENG and careful optimization of the percentage of Graphite will provide the best energy-harvesting performance of the TENG.