From waste to energy: Triboelectric Nanogenerator and Self-powered Sensor from Plastic wastes

Author Bùi Văn Tiến – Faculty of Material Technology – HCM City University of Technology _ VNU-HCM

Triboelectric generators (TENGs) are known as one of the most effective technologies to harvest electricity from mechanical kinetic energy. Thanks to their merits such as broad material availability, light weight, low cost, and high efficiency even at low operation frequency, TENGs have found vast applications. However, the electrical output and the production cost of TENGs need to be improved for their practical applications. On the other hand, plastic foam (PF), which is mainly composed of polystyrene, has drawn serious plastic pollution when it is discarded after use. Finding an economically viable route to effectively recycle the PF waste is highly desirable.

In this project, we focus on the mass-production of new high-power TENGs, using the wasted materials such as PF waste, chitosan from shrimp shell waste, cellulose and its derivatives; and more importantly, the developed TENG is then applied as power source for self-powered microelectronics. Firstly, PF honeycomb (HC) films with customizable micropore arrays will be synthesized based on controlled phase separation. Subsequently, the positive tribomaterials with convex micropatterned structures will be made by exploiting the HC film as a sacrificed mold. The TENGs based on the as-prepared patterned tribo-materials are expected to exhibit a high output performance (power density ≥ 10 W/m2) due to the superior friction properties of patterned surfaces together with excellent electrification of chitosan, cellulose and cellulose derivatives. The high-power generation, cost-effectiveness and massive production of the TENGs suggest that this work may pave a way to effectively recycle the plastics waste for reducing plastic pollution and addressing energy crisis as well as opening potential applications of TENGs for Internet of Things.