Synergistic effect study of g-C₃N₄ composites for high-performance triboelectric nanogenerators

The energy harvesting crisis has caused great necessity for new energy technologies, among which triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) garnered global attention. Based on our previous research on a novel 2D material graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), this work explores the influence of g-C3N4 hybrid dopants with Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) on the performance enhancement of TENGs. More specifically, systematic experiments with different ratios of hybrid dopants were conducted, including Ag nanowires with g-C3N4, carbon nanotubes with g-C3N4, and MXene with g-C3N4. The systematic and optimization studies showed that carbon nanotube/g-C3N4 at the optimal ratio of 1:1 in PDMS composite presented an open circuit voltage (Voc ) at 122 V, a short circuit current (Isc ) at 5.8 μA, and a charge transfer (Qsc ) at 105 nC, while Ag/g-C3N4 at the ratio of 3:1 with 1 wt % in PDMS composite presented the best performance with Voc of 92 V, Isc of 4.6 μA, Qsc of 49 nC, and power density of 1.45 W/m2. The fabricated hybrid dopant/PDMS TENG was utilized for versatile applications in biomechanical energy harvesting and self‐powered human-motion detecting. In addition, we designed a dish and an insole with multiple TENGs for pressure sensing and multichannel data acquisition applications.