Chemically Variable\nPolyurethanes Prepared Using CO<sub>2</sub>‑Derived Diols as\nPromising Triboelectric Energy Harvesting\nMaterials

The\nchemical conversion of CO<sub>2</sub> into valuable chemicals\nhas attracted great attention from scientists. In this work, cyclic\ncarbonates (CCs) with various functional groups were prepared through\nthe chemical conversion of CO<sub>2</sub> with epoxides. By reacting\nCCs with 2-ethanolamine, carbamate diols with various functional groups\n(CDs) could be developed as polymer platforms. Finally, a series of\npolyurethanes with various functional groups (PU-CDs) were synthesized\nby reacting CDs with diisocyanate and were applied as triboelectric\nenergy harvesting materials. The triboelectric performance of PU-CDs\non polyethylene terephthalate fabric (PET-F) films depended on the\nfunctional groups of PU-CDs. The optimal PU-CD4/PET-F film with phenyl\ngroups exhibited promising triboelectric performance, achieving an\noutput peak-to-peak voltage (<i>V</i><sub>p–p</sub>) of 352 V and a maximum power density of 18 mW/cm<sup>2</sup>. The\ntriboelectric devices fabricated with PU-CD4/PET-F films demonstrated\nexcellent durability over 30000 pressing/releasing cycles and were\nable to power green light emitting diodes (LEDs) and a hygrometer.\nBased on the synthetic strategy of this work, a greater variety of\nCO<sub>2</sub>-derived PUs can be designed and developed for the harvesting\nof triboelectric energy.