| AVS 66th International Symposium & Exhibition | |
| Thin Films Division | Thursday Sessions |
| Session TF+EM+NS+SS-ThM |
| Session: | Thin Films for Energy Harvesting and Conversion |
| Presenter: | Naga Srinivas Korivi, Tuskegee University |
| Authors: | I. Fattah, Tuskegee University E. Utterback, Tuskegee University N.S. Korivi, Tuskegee University V. Rangari, Tuskegee University |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
We report on the development of polymer nanocomposite layers made by 3D printing. The nanocomposite is composed of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), barium titanate nanoparticles, and multi-walled carbon nanotubes. Flexible layers of this composite have been 3D printed using a commercial 3D printer, and function as triboelectric energy generators. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a PDMS based triboelectric nanogenerator fabricated by 3D printing. The nanogenerators have been evaluated in contact and separation mode and produce a maximum of 2.6 Volts under pressure from a human finger.
The fabrication procedure involves sonicating barium titanate (BaTiO3, Skyspring Nanomaterials) and multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT, Skyspring Nanomaterials) together in ethyl alcohol. This is followed by removing the excess ethyl alcohol, and manually grinding the nanoparticle powder to break any clusters. This is followed by mechanically blending liquid PDMS pre-polymer and its curing agent (~10:1 ratio by weight) with the nanoparticle powder in one beaker. Finally, the blend is filled into a dual plastic syringe, which is loaded onto an extrusion printing head of a commercial 3D printer (Hydra 16A, Hyrel LLC, USA). The printer reads a software file that defines the pattern or shape to be printed and dispenses the material from the syringe accordingly onto a base plate. For printing this composite, the base plate temperature was maintained between 75 – 90 °C, to allow curing within a few minutes. Once cured, the solid composite layers (270 μm thickness) can be peeled off the base plate.
The 3D printed PDMS-BaTiO3-MWCNT layers have been evaluated as triboelectric energy generation. In one embodiment, the 3D printed functions as the negatively charged layer in a contact-separation scheme. A polyimide sheet is used as positively charged layer. Carbon tapes are used as current collectors on both positive and negative charged layers. When these two layers are brought in contact with some pressure applied by a human finger, and then released, characteristic negative and positive voltage spikes are respectively observed. Peak voltages as high as 2.6 Volts have been obtained with the present 3D printed PDMS-BaTiO3-MWCNT layers. These observations indicate the applicability of this 3D printed composite in triboelectric energy generation.
Acknowledgments: This research was supported by the National Science Foundation grant #1827690.