Crumpled Laser Induced Graphene Silver Nanowire Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Energy Harvesting
Open Access
- Author:
- Erdely, Daniel
- Graduate Program:
- Engineering Science and Mechanics
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- March 15, 2022
- Committee Members:
- Albert Segall, Professor in Charge/Director of Graduate Studies
Larry Cheng, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
David W Snyder, Committee Member
Melik C Demirel, Committee Member - Keywords:
- triboelectric
laser-induced-graphene
AgNW - Abstract:
- The on-body wearable sensor field is a rapidly growing area of research that has much promise. One of the biggest problems to solve for their effectiveness is how they are powered. So far, the traditional methods of taking the device off the body and charging them with a cable have been used, which means data is lost while the device needs to charge. In the past, an effect known as triboelectrification has been used to provide continuous power by converting mechanical energy into electrical energy. These devices have been limited to traditional fabrication methods like electrospinning[1] and single-layer graphene growth[2] or limited electrode area to achieve flexibility.[3] Here, three separate laser-induced graphene (LIG) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) were developed and tested to find an improved energy harvesting method. The first was constructed with simply LIG and PDMS. The second was built the same as the first but with silver nanowires (AgNWs) to aid electron transfer. Lastly, the third TENG was fabricated with AgNWs and crumpled LIG to increase the surface area of the surfaces in contact. The smooth LIG TENG had an output of 280nA but degraded quickly due to the LIG adhering to the PDMS. The smooth LIG/AgNW had the best output of 333nA due to the improved conductivity that the AgNWs provided. Finally, the crumpled LIG/AgNW TENG had the lowest output of 75nA because the size of the crumpled structure was too large, actually decreasing the contact surface area and thus output. While these results are lower than reported literature values for similar LIG TENGs, it proves that a crumpled LIG TENG can be created and provide a foundation for crumpled LIG TENGs in the future.