Modified organic polystyrene microspheres embedded into P(VDF-TrFE) with lotus-leaf microstructure enables high performance triboelectric nanogenerator

Highlights: • A facile strategy of constructing a lotus-leaf microstructure is proposed. • The incorporation of PS microspheres into the polymer modulates the permittivity by MWS polarization. • A cationic modifier CTAB is used to promote the surface potential of the tribo-positive layer. A lot of efforts have been devoted to enhance the outputs of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) via optimizing the friction materials in recent years. Here, the modified organic polystyrene (PS) microspheres embedded Poly[(vinylidene fluoride)-co-trifluoroethylene] P(VDF-TrFE) composites are developed to construct lotus-leaf surface microstructure and enhance the permittivity of P(VDF-TrFE). Besides, owing to the rich positively charged -NH₃ groups of the hexadecyl-trimethyl-ammonium-bromide (CTAB) in the solvent, the surface potential of composites is significantly improved by CTAB modified PS microspheres. Coupling of designed surface microstructure, high permittivity, and enhanced surface potential, the TENG assembled by P(VDF-TrFE) (+) and Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, -) exhibits considerable outputs (the short-circuit current density and peak power density are 47.45 mA/m² and 7.88 W/m², respectively), much higher than those of pristine P(VDF-TrFE) and unretouched PS/P(VDF-TrFE). In the applications, 413 LEDs in series can be lighted up directly by the TENG without energy storage. A smart mouse pad is also proposed to work as the self-powered sensor to detect typical mouse motions. This research provides a comprehensive solution to optimize the positive friction material in simple and feasible methods of surface/interface design and surface potential regulation.