Synergetic Enhancement of Triboelectric Nanogenerators’ Performance Based on Patterned Membranes Fabricated by Phase-Inversion Process

A triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is an environmentally friendly energy-harvesting technology that has attracted considerable research attention as a sustainable energy source. Herein, a synergetic enhancement of TENGs’ performance using patterned polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and nylon membranes and polymer membranes based on a facile phase-inversion process is reported. The phase-inversion method provides simple and fast patterned membrane formation to increase the surface area. The pyramid-patterned membranes are similar in size for both PVDF and nylon 6,6. In addition, the phase transition and crystallinity of PVDF and nylon are not varied, even after the patterning process, because the cooling rate is kept constant during the phase-inversion process. In a vertical contact-separation mode of the TENG operation, the patterned PVDF and nylon membranes show ≈2.5 times higher output performance in both the output voltage and current compared with that of the flat membranes. In addition, the performance of the patterned PVDF and nylon membranes does not degrade, even after 5000 cycle tests, because of the elastic nature of the patterned surfaces.