sc1c01853_si_002.mp4 (1.93 MB)
Enhancing Hydrophobicity of Starch for Biodegradable Material-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerators
media
posted on 2021-06-29, 17:08 authored by Gaurav Khandelwal, Nirmal Prashanth
Maria Joseph Raj, Nagamalleswara
Rao Alluri, Sang-Jae KimPlastic
pollution would be reduced by the use of sustainable, eco-friendly,
and biodegradable devices. Starch is a readily available natural,
edible, and biodegradable polymer. The strong hydrophilicity of starch
hinders its use in the development of biodegradable triboelectric
nanogenerators (TENGs), which must exhibit long-term stability. We
enhanced the hydrophobicity of starch by introducing an edible Laver
filler. A 1 wt % starch/Laver (SL) composite had a contact angle of
107°, which is far higher than that of pristine starch. We fabricated
a fully packed SL-TENG using polycaprolactone (PCL) as the negative
layer and edible gold leaf as the electrode. The PCL layer also served
as the packaging layer, as it is stable in phosphate-buffered saline
for 30 days. The 1 wt % SL-TENG exhibited 4- and 9-fold increased
voltage and current outputs, respectively, compared to pristine starch.
Finally, SL-TENG is utilized for biomechanical energy harvesting and
for powering numerous electronics such as a calculator, stopwatch,
wristwatch, and thermometer.