Sustainable Charged Composites with Amphiphobic Surfaces for Harsh Environment–Tolerant Non-Contact Mode Triboelectric Nanogenerators

Here, we report the harsh environment–tolerant and robust non-contact mode triboelectric nanogenerators based on sustainable charged TPU-SiO₂ and PDMS-PTFE composites with amphiphobic surfaces. In the composites, SiO₂ and PTFE particles are well-distributed with ethanol and n-hexane as dispersing agents, respectively. The PDMS-PTFE composites are then etched and fluorinated, resulted in the formation of the amphiphobic surfaces. As a practical non-contact mode application, a speed sensor fabricated using the two composites can stably detect a vehicle speed of 3.75 km/h when exposed to high humidity (~ 99 %) and various chemical oils. It also shows the enhanced charge retention characteristic of the composites by 6 times.