A Flexible Triboelectric Nanogenerator Fabricated Using Laser-Assisted Patterning Process

A flexible vertical contact-separation mode based triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) was fabricated using laser-assisted patterning and additive screen printing processes. A micro-pyramid patterned polydimethyl siloxane (MP-PDMS) was prepared by using a laser engraved acrylic mold. A top and bottom electrode for TENG was fabricated by screen printing Ag ink on a flexible polyimide substrate. The MP-PDMS, was bonded to the bottom electrode using a thin layer of adhesive PDMS. The MPPDMS and the printed polyimide electrodes were employed as positive and negative triboelectric layers, respectively to scavenge mechanical energy into electrical energy. The performance of the MP-TENG was demonstrated by investigating the open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current and instantaneous power on the load resistors. It was observed that the open-circuit voltage was stabilized at 4 V for frequencies varying from 5 Hz to 40 Hz with a short-circuit current of 6μA when the MP-TENG was disconnected from the load resistor resulting in an instantaneous power of 2.5μW. The power density calculated at 15 MΩ load was 0.181 μW cm
^-2
.