Massive enhancement in power output of BoPET-paper triboelectric nanogenerator using 2D-hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets

In the present era of the Internet of Things (IoT) and sensor networks, clean and sustainable power sources are in huge demand, and triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are a hot cake in green energy production. Here, we have developed a contact-separation mode TENG using liquid-phase exfoliated 2D-hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs) coated on biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BoPET) and paper as counter triboelectric materials, which showed an impressive 70 times higher power output than simple BoPET-paper TENG assembly. Even under a moderate finger tapping force (~3 N), the developed BNNSs/BoPET-paper TENG device could generate an open circuit output voltage of ~200 V and a short circuit current density of ∼0.48 mA/m2. While under load testing, the peak value of electric power density for the BNNSs/BoPET-paper TENG device reached ~0.14 W/m2 at 200 MΩ resistive load. The incorporation of BNNSs has significantly enhanced the electron-accepting capabilities of the BoPET film which is evident from the enhanced dielectric permittivity of the BNNSs/BoPET assembly, and thus resulted in the enhanced electrical output of TENG. Additionally, the fabricated BNNSs-TENG was successfully demonstrated for powering electronic gadgets such as LCD clock, digital thermometer, and LEDs through cyclic finger tapping force.