Enhanced Triboelectric Nanogenerators Based on MoS<sub>2</sub> Monolayer Nanocomposites Acting as Electron-Acceptor Layers.

Wu, Chaoxing; Kim, Tae Whan; Park, Jae Hyeon; An, Haoqun; Shao, Jiajia; Chen, Xiangyu; Wang, Zhong Lin · ACS Nano · 2017

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

As one of their major goals, researchers attempting to harvest mechanical energy efficiently have continuously sought ways to integrate mature technologies with cutting-edge designs to enhance the performances of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). In this research, we introduced monolayer molybdenum-disulfide (MoS<sub>2</sub>) into the friction layer of a TENG as the triboelectric electron-acceptor layer in an attempt to dramatically enhance its output performance. As a proof of the concept, we fabricated a vertical contact-separation mode TENG containing monolayer MoS<sub>2</sub> as an electron-acceptor layer and found that the TENG exhibited a peak power density as large as 25.7 W/m<sup>2</sup>, which is 120 times larger than that of the device without monolayer MoS<sub>2</sub>. The mechanisms behind the performance enhancement, which are related to the highly efficient capture of triboelectric electrons in monolayer MoS<sub>2</sub>, are discussed in detail. This study indicates that monolayer MoS<sub>2</sub> can be used as a functional material for efficient energy harvesting.