Substituting a small quantity of carbon nanotubes with MXene in silicone rubber composites for robust PENG

• Achieving a good balance of stiffness, stretchability, and power density are challenging. • Composite prepared by mixing silicone rubber with MWCNT, and MXene (Ti 3 C 2 T x ). • The facture strain was 149% (control), 155% (MWCNT), and 195% (MXene). • The output voltage was ∼350 mV (MWCNT) and ∼470 mV (MXene). • Power density was ∼0.016 nW/cm 2 (MWCNT) and ∼0.17 nW/cm 2 (MXene). Obtaining a balanced high-performance piezoelectric nanogenerator (PENG) is extremely challenging. Some of these challenges are obtaining good mechanical stability, high power density, robust durability, and optimum stiffness, which are explored in the present work. The composites fabricating PENG are based on silicone rubber, multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT), and MXene (Ti 3 C 2 T x ). The synthesis of “Ti 3 C 2 T x ” was examined by X-ray diffraction and other spectroscopic techniques. A novel route of obtaining robust performance of PENG was justified by substituting 0.1 phr of MWCNT with MXene, and the output properties are reported. For example, the modulus under tensile strain was 0.49 MPa (unfilled sample), increased to 1.04 MPa (MWCNT-based sample), and further increased to 1.41 MPa (MXene-based sample). The elongation at break was 149 % (unfilled sample), increased to 155 % (MWCNT-based sample), and further increased to 195 % (MXene-based sample). The electrical properties were tested, and a more stable, less noisy pattern was obtained for MXene-based composites compared to another MWCNT-based composite. Finally, the performance of the PENG was tested. The output voltage under repeated compressive cyclic strain of 30 % was tested and a great result was noticed for MXene-based composites. For example, the output voltage was ∼350 mV for the MWCNT-based sample and ∼470 mV for the MXene-based samples. The power density was ∼0.016 nW/cm 2 for the MWCNT-based sample and ∼0.17 nW/cm 2 for the MXene-based sample. The piezoelectric coefficient was ∼19 pC/N for the MXene-based sample. Therefore, the results validate that introducing MXene in an MWCNT-based composite was a novel way of obtaining high-performance PENGs for stretchable electronics and self-powered applications. These self-powered results benefit remote areas and military applications as portable power sources.