A fluorescent triboelectric nanogenerator manufactured with a flexible janus nanobelt array concurrently acting as a...

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have opened a new direction in the field of flexible devices. Here, a fluorescent TENG-JNA constructed with a flexible Janus nanobelt array (JNA) and PVDF/PVP nanofibers membrane by electro-spinning is reported for the first time. The building unit of JNA is the [PANI/CNTs/PMMA]//[Tb(BA)₃phen/PMMA] Janus nanobelts, which demonstrate green fluorescence and electrical conduction bi-function, where two independent partitions are microscopically realized in the Janus nanobelts. In TENG-JNA, JNA concurrently gains excellent charge-trapping ability and charge-generating capability by optimizing the PANI content; therefore, JNA serves as both a charge-generating layer and charge-trapping layer. The interface between TB(BA)₃phen and PMMA, the existence of aromatic ring structures in the PANI main chain and the interface between PANI and PMMA are conducive to trap a large number of triboelectric charges in time to prevent the triboelectric charges from combining with induced charges, which can significantly improve the output performance of TENG-JNA. The maximum output current and voltage of TENG-JNA are 6.20 μA and 155 V, respectively. The introduction of Tb(BA)₃phen ensures the strong fluorescence of TENF-JNA, and this fluorescence can be used to judge whether TENF-JNA works normally or is out of order in a dark environment. TENG-JNA possesses other compelling features, such as prominent flexibility, good hydrophobicity, durability and light weight, which provides the premise for TENG-JNA to be used as a flexible device in a wet environment or for warning functions. The Janus nanobelt was firstly used to assemble a TENG, which provides theoretical, material and technical support for the development of new building units of TENGs and paves a pathway for designing and assembling new TENGs.