Importance of Architectural Asymmetry for Improved Triboelectric Nanogenerators with 3D Spacer Fabrics

Importance of Architectural Asymmetry for Improved Triboelectric Nanogenerators with 3D Spacer Fabrics

We investigated the importance of architectural asymmetry to improve the output voltage of the triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) with polyester/ spandex blend 3D spacer fabrics. Different types of TENGs were fabricated by stacking the 3D spacer fabrics, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) films, and electrodes with different stack configurations. The 3D spacer fabric TENGs fabricated with higher architectural asymmetry exhibited higher output voltages than those fabricated with lower architectural asymmetry. In particular, the TENG with the PDMS/fabric/ fabric configuration exhibited the highest maximum peak-to-peak output voltage among all types. The prominent increase in the TENG output voltage was ascribed to the relatively high architectural asymmetry in the device configuration and the relatively high effective density of triboelectric charges.

We investigated the importance of architectural asymmetry to improve the output voltage of the triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) with polyester/ spandex blend 3D spacer fabrics. Different types of TENGs were fabricated by stacking the 3D spacer fabrics, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) films, and electrodes with different stack configurations. The 3D spacer fabric TENGs fabricated with higher architectural asymmetry exhibited higher output voltages than those fabricated with lower architectural asymmetry. In particular, the TENG with the PDMS/fabric/ fabric configuration exhibited the highest maximum peak-to-peak output voltage among all types. The prominent increase in the TENG output voltage was ascribed to the relatively high architectural asymmetry in the device configuration and the relatively high effective density of triboelectric charges.