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Bio-based vitrimeric elastomers enable completely sustainable triboelectric nanogenerator

生物来源的类玻璃弹性体助力完全可持续性的摩擦纳米发电机

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Abstract

Completely sustainable triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) with bio-based raw materials, green synthesis, resource-saving processing, durable mechanical and electrical performance, facile recycling, and degradation properties are highly desired for green energy harvesting and wearable electronics, but their preparation remains a challenge. This study develops bio-based vitrimers combining green synthesis, excellent elasticity, biodegradability, and recyclability to address this challenge. A salt-assisted three-dimensional (3D) printing strategy is developed to fabricate mechanically robust TENGs with hierarchical porous structures. The triboelectric contact between the surfaces and external triboelectric materials as well as that of the internal hierarchical pore’s wall contributes to the excellent electrical output performance. The resultant TENGs could be easily recycled into different forms by light-assisted fabrication to extend their lifetime. The main part of discarded TENGs shows facile degradation under benign conditions without negative influence on the environment, while the high-value conductive fillers can be readily recycled. Overall, this work presents a new paradigm for completely sustainable TENGs, which will inspire the development of sustainable electronic devices.

摘要

具有生物来源、 “绿色”制备、 稳定的力学和电学性能、 可循环利用、 可降解的摩擦纳米发电机在绿色能源收集和可穿戴器件应用中意义重大, 但是其制备仍存在挑战. 据此, 本工作发展了具有优异的弹性、 生物降解性和可循环性的生物基类玻璃弹性体来应对上述挑战. 我们以弹性体和碳纳米管为原料通过盐粒辅助的3D打印技术制备了具有多级孔结构的摩擦纳米发电机. 该摩擦纳米发电机表现出优异的力学和电能输出性能, 并能够通过光致加工手段实现回收再利用; 而废弃的摩擦纳米发电机也能够通过弹性体的降解和碳纳米管的回收, 有效节约资源和减少污染. 本工作为完全可持续性摩擦纳米发电机提供了一个新的范例, 对可持续性电子器件的发展具有一定的启发意义.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Open Research Fund of Center for Civil Aviation Composites of Donghua University and Shanghai Collaborative Innovation Center of High Performance Fibers and Composites (Province-Ministry Joint), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFC2101800), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52173117, 52073049, 21991123, and 52075093), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2021M702898), the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai (22ZR1400700 and 20ZR1402500), Shanghai Rising-Star Program (21QA1400200), the Belt & Road Young Scientist Exchanges Project of Science and Technology Commission Foundation of Shanghai (20520741000), the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (20DZ2254900), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2232021G-02), DHU Distinguished Young Professor Program (LZA2019001), and the Open Project of Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices (KJS1902).

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, Institute of Functional Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Research Base of Textile Materials for Flexible Electronics and Biomedical Applications (China Textile Engineering Society), Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Nano-Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China

    Shuo Chen  (陈硕), Yifan Guo  (郭一凡), Lijie Sun  (孙利杰), Wei Sun  (孙巍), Kris Chen  (陈玮昱), Qingbao Guan  (管清宝) & Zhengwei You  (游正伟)

  2. Department of Materials and Polymer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, 9617976487, Iran

    Rasoul Esmaeely Neisiany

Authors
  1. Shuo Chen  (陈硕)
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  2. Yifan Guo  (郭一凡)
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  3. Lijie Sun  (孙利杰)
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  4. Wei Sun  (孙巍)
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  5. Rasoul Esmaeely Neisiany
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  6. Kris Chen  (陈玮昱)
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  7. Qingbao Guan  (管清宝)
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  8. Zhengwei You  (游正伟)
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Contributions

Author contributions Chen S and You Z proposed the project; Chen S, Guo Y, and You Z conceived the idea; You Z supervised the project. Guo Y, Sun L, and Chen S synthesized the samples and performed the structural characterizations. Guo Y, Chen S, Sun W, Chen K, and Guan Q performed the electrical measurements and data analysis of TENG. Chen S, Guo Y, Guan Q, Neisiany RE, and You Z organized and wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed to the discussion and revision of the manuscript at all stages.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Qingbao Guan  (管清宝) or Zhengwei You  (游正伟).

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Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Supplementary information Experimental details and supporting data are available in the online version of the paper.

Shuo Chen received his PhD degree from the College of Materials Science and Engineering at Donghua University in 2020. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His research focuses on the preparation and processing of biodegradable elastomers and gels for biodegradable elastic electronics.

Yifan Guo received his BS degree (2016) in materials science and engineering and PhD degree (2021) in materials science from Donghua University. His current research interests focus on developing functional polymers and elastomers for flexible electronic devices and regenerative medicine, including TENG, pressure sensors, and flexible keyboard.

Qingbao Guan is an associate professor at the State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Donghua University. He obtained his PhD degree from the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in 2016. He conducted his postdoctoral research at Soochow University. His research interests include liquid crystalline polymers, smart (shape memory and self-healing) materials and nanogenerator.

Zhengwei You is a full professor at the State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials and the chair of the Department of Composite Materials, Donghua University. He received his BS degree from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and PhD degree from Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He conducted his postdoctoral research at Georgia Institute of Technology and University of Pittsburgh. Prior to joining Donghua University in 2013, he was an innovation manager at Bayer Material Science. His current research involves smart polymers, elastomers, biomaterials, 3D printing, and stretchable electronics.

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Chen, S., Guo, Y., Sun, L. et al. Bio-based vitrimeric elastomers enable completely sustainable triboelectric nanogenerator. Sci. China Mater. 66, 1089–1096 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-022-2204-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-022-2204-8

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