The Efficient and Stable Triboelectric Nanogenerator Materials Based on Electrostatic Attraction Between Biomass and...

Biomass-based triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have attracted attention in the fields of biomedical and wearable electronics. This study formed three stable frictional electric films, namely chitosan quaternary ammonium salt(CQAS)/Sc₂O₃, CQAS/MnO₂, and CQAS/ZnO, through electrostatic attraction between positively charged CQAS and electron-rich oxygen atoms in metal oxides. Molecular dynamics simulations show negative interfacial binding energy, indicating structural stability. Density functional theory confirms the accumulation of electrons near oxygen atoms, especially in ZnO, where the average oxygen electron is -0.89, forming a strong negative potential. The electric hysteresis loop of CQAS/ZnO exhibits the best closure, and its potential shift response is stable. The leakage current of CQAS/ZnO is the lowest, at 37.2 µA, indicating that ZnO easily forms a more stable structure with CQAS through electrostatic attraction. CQAS/ZnO exhibits the best triboelectric electrical performance, with an open circuit voltage of 1260 V and a transferred charge density of 11.50 nC cm^-2. This work proposes a theoretical model that supports the pairing of metal oxides and polymers, improving the triboelectric electrical performance and increasing the device quality factor of the TENGs from 0.26 for pure CQAS to 1.0, an increase of 3.85 times. Efficient energy conversion and human-machine interaction are achieved.