All-Silicone Rubber Triboelectric Nanogenerators with Graphite-Impregnated Electrodes

Abstract

Metal-free triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) with properties of comfort, mechanical resistance, and low cost of preparation have been explored as alternative and advantageous systems for incorporation in wearables and sensors. Herein, the production of an all-silicone rubber TENG that explores the percolation threshold of graphite flakes to create accessible current pathways into the membrane, acting as an adequate electrode with high conductivity, and adequate surface modification to provide a high charge transfer rate from a single electrode TENG that explores the human skin as a tribopositive layer are proposed. The proposed all-silicone rubber TENG presented an outstanding performance of 308.7 V for output voltage and power density of 197.2 μW/cm2 for samples prepared with a silicone rubber layer applied as a tribolayer and modified electrode.