Synergistic effect study of g-C₃N₄ composites for high-performance triboelectric nanogenerators

The energy harvesting crisis has caused great necessity for new energy technologies, among which triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) garnered global attention. Based on our previous research on a novel 2D material g-C₃N₄, this work explores the influence of g-C₃N₄ hybrid dopants with Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) on the performance enhancement of triboelectric generators (TENGs). More specifically, systematic experiments with different ratios of hybrid dopants were conducted, including Ag nanowire with g-C₃N₄, carbon nanotube with g-C₃N₄, and MXene with g-C₃N₄. The systematic and optimization studies showed that carbon nanotube (CNT)/g-C₃N₄ at the optimal ratio of 1:1 in PDMS composite presented open circuit voltage (Voc) at 122 V, short circuit current (Isc) at 5.8 μA, and charge transfer (Qsc) at 105 nC, while Ag/g-C₃N₄ at the ratio of 3:1 with 1 wt % in PDMS composite presented the best performance with Voc of 92 V, Isc of 4.6 μA, Qsc of 49 nC, and power density of 1.45 W/m2. The fabricated hybrid dopant/PDMS TENG was utilized for versatile applications in biomechanical energy harvesting and self‐powered human-motion detecting. In addition, we also designed a dish and an insole with multiple TENGs for pressure sensing and multichannel data acquisition applications.