3D Printed SnS<sub>2</sub>/SnS-Based Nanocomposite Hydrogel as a Photoenhanced Triboelectric Nanogenerator
Nishat Kumar Das, Sushmitha Veeralingam, Sushmee Badhulika
Abstract
Recent advancements in printing technologies have led to new fabrication techniques for the development of various flexible, compact, wearable, and portable energy harvesters and self-powered devices. In particular, the three-dimensional printing (3DP) technology for a nanogenerator has become advantageous due to its low cost, simplicity, and high precision in fabricating complicated structures. Therefore, we report a 3DP-based photoinduced triboelectric nanogenerator (PTNG) fabrication, a hybrid version of a conventional triboelectric nanogenerator. Here, a 3D printed poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanocomposite hydrogel (3DPH) with photoactive SnS 2 /SnS nanoflakes is used as a tribo-positive material and copper foil as a tribo-negative material for PTNG application. Under light illumination, the as-fabricated PTNG with an optimized weight percentage of SnS 2 /SnS displays the open-circuit voltage ( V oc ) enhancement from 29 to 37.5 V and short-circuit current ( I sc ) enhancement from 1.23 to 1.58 μA. In addition, the power density of the device is observed at 5.4 μW/cm 2 under illumination conditions at the external load of 60 MΩ. This enhanced performance of the as-fabricated PTNG is attributed to the mutual coupling effect and improved interfacial interactions between the SnS 2 /SnS nanoflakes and PVA under the influence of light illumination, leading to a charge-trapping mechanism. The outstanding performance and stability of the as-fabricated PTNG surpassing all similar recent reports, establish it as an effective hybrid platform for constructing multifunctional self-powered devices.