High-Efficiency Biomechanical Energy Harvesting Device With Enhanced Triboelectric Nanogenerator Performance Based on MXene Nanosheets Interfacial Polarization Strategy

This study presents a high-performance triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) fabricated by incorporating 2D-MXene nanosheets into a polyvinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-HFP) negative tribo-layer using a simple blade-coating technique, combined with a Nylon positive tribo-layer. The assembled TENG exhibits outstanding electrical performance, with increases of 185%, 295%, and 184% in open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current, and transferred charge, respectively, compared to the original PVDF-HFP nanogenerator. Under optimal conditions, the device demonstrates long-term stable output, achieving a peak-to-peak short-circuit current of <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$49.40~\mu $ </tex-math></inline-formula>A and a peak power density of 4.9 W/m2. These performance improvements are mainly due to the strong interfacial polarization induced by the 20 wt.% MXene loading, which enhances the dielectric properties and charge-trapping capability of the negative tribo-layer. The device successfully harvests biomechanical energy from human motion, further demonstrating its potential for use in wearable electronics, real-time motion sensing, and biomechanical energy harvesting applications. This study emphasizes the critical importance of advanced materials engineering in developing next-generation, self-powered sensors, and energy harvesting systems, which are essential for enabling sustainable and portable electronic technologies.