Biodegradable PVA/PVP Blend-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator for High-Performance Energy Harvesting and IoT-Integrated Smart Tactile Sensing

Developing high-performance and eco-friendly energy harvesting technologies is crucial for sustainable self-powered electronics. This work introduces an inventive approach to enhancing triboelectric properties through polymer blending, demonstrating for the first time that the triboelectric performance of a dielectric polymer can be significantly improved by blending with a high-functionality polymer. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), both biodegradable and possessing complementary electronic properties, were blended in optimized ratios to enhance electron-donating characteristics without the need for conventional surface modifications or nanoparticle incorporation. The blends of varying weight ratios were systematically tested for electrical performance. While ensuring the ease of processability, the blending of polymers enhanced mechanical flexibility and resulted in excellent triboelectric performance for eco-friendly and scalable applications of the devices. The Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) with fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) as electron accepting material and PVA/PVP blend of 80:20 ratio provided an open-circuit voltage (Voc) of ∼322 V, short-circuit current (Isc) of ∼8.8 μA, transfer charge (Qsc) of ∼485 nC, and power density of 290 mW/m2 at an impedance of 2.2 MΩ. The device successfully powered 4 LED bulbs (8W) and 208 LEDs (5 mm). Small electronic devices such as calculators, digital timers, and 7-segment LED displays were also successfully powered by the device. Further, a TENG of fully biodegradable triboelectric materials was fabricated using polylactic acid (PLA) as the tribo-negative layer instead of FEP. The device was integrated as a self-powered tactile sensor in an intelligent lighting system for staircase illumination and an IoT-based innovative security system for homes and offices. The fabricated TENGs exhibited enhanced electrical performance, making them highly suitable for energy harvesting and self-powered sensing applications. This work demonstrates eco-friendly and sustainable energy harvesting using TENGs for self-powered intelligent sensing technologies and sensor applications.