Simultaneous Evaporation and Foaming for Batch Coaxial Extrusion of Liquid Metal/Polydimethylsiloxane Porous Fibrous TENG

The utilization of textile-based triboelectric nanogenerators (t-TENGs) offers great potential for providing sustainable and wearable power. Nevertheless, the current designs of t-TENGs present limitations in terms of low electrical outputs and less developed, straightforward batch processing techniques. Herein, a facile bottom-up foaming-combined coaxial extrusion method is developed for the massive fabrication of liquid metal/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) core-shell porous fibrous TENG, which can be directly woven to form t-TENGs. Ink designs are studied for high-fidelity fibrous TENG manufacturing and porosity-controlled micropore formation. Furthermore, porous fibrous TENGs are applied to integrate different woven structures, and the electrical and mechanical performances of the t-TENGs are optimized. Compared with plain surface fibrous TENG, the porous fibrous TENG achieves a similar to fivefold improvement in the open-circuit voltage (V-OC) and a similar to sevenfold improvement in the short-circuit current (I-SC). These outcomes indicate that we can prepare a range of polymers for t-TENGs with enhanced output performance even though they do not demonstrate great triboelectrification. This work also demonstrates successful integration for sustainably powering miniature electronics. These results can contribute to human motion energy harvesting for wearable self-powered sensors.

Automated summary

A bottom-up foaming-combined coaxial extrusion method is developed for the fabrication of liquid metal/PDMS core-shell porous fibrous TENG. The t-TENGs show improved electrical outputs and mechanical performances, and can power miniature electronics sustainably.