Triboelectric polymer with excellent enhanced electrical output performance over a wide temperature range

Due to thermionic emission of triboelectric charge and degradation of mechanical stability of polymer tribomaterials (PTMs), PTMs based TENG (PTM-TENG) cannot maintain efficient electrical output and operate stably at high temperatures. Herein, a series of fatty acid doped PVDF-HFP (PH-FA) PTMs are fabricated. The introduction of FA lubricants dramatically increases the β-phase relative fraction, dielectric constant and surface charge potential of PTMs. Therefore, the PH-SA (stearic acid) based TENG shows improved electrical output over a wide temperature range, extraordinary stability, and durability. Particularly, the V_T/V_Room, I_T/I_Room and Q_T/Q_Room of PH-SA at 100 °C are separately up to 231.10%, 251.46% and 234.01%, the output efficiency of PH-SA is still higher than 100% at 120 °C. This study not only provides pioneering reference for the development of advanced PTM-TENG with enhanced output performance over a wide temperature range, but also greatly promotes the application of PTM-TENG devices in harsh environments.