P(VDF-TrFE) Nanofibers With Ultrathin MoS2 Nanofillers for Improved Energy Harvesting Efficiency

Energy harvesting from ambient sources has attracted considerable interest, and triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are the latest among a wide variety of harvesters reported in recent years. While TENGs show notably high voltages, their outputs could be further enhanced with suitable nanofillers. Herein, we demonstrate as-synthesized ultrathin molybdenum disulfide (MoS
₂
) nanofillers in the electrospun nanofibers of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)], leading to more than six times jump (from 26 V for TENGs without nanofillers to 162 V) in the output voltage of TENG. The highest jump in the output voltage was obtained with sample using 0.07 wt% of MoS
₂
. The distinctive features of this work include facile synthesis of ultrathin conductive MoS
₂
using a modified hydrothermal method and the strategic introduction of sulfur vacancies in the nanofibers, which eventually led to significantly higher output voltage. The observed jump in the performance of TENGs underscores the potential of incorporating sulfur vacancy enriched MoS
₂
as a robust method to elevate the efficacy of wearable energy harvesters.