Search

In this work, a flexible triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) integrated with an artificial petal micro/nanostructure surface is proposed and fabricated. The flexible printed circuit is designed to expose the copper electrodes and integrate with the artificial polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) petal surface as a flexible TENG. The artificial PDMS petal micro/nanostructure surface was fabricated by the rose petal replication process and integrated into the TENG to enhance triboelectric charge transfer. The power generated by the TENG from coupling between the triboelectric effect and electrostatic induction by external mechanical loads can be collected. The generated output open-circuit peak-to-peak voltage can be up to 45.8 V when the externally applied normal pressure is 40 kN m−2. Additionally, a maximum output power of 0.01 μW is achieved with a 1.7 MΩ loading resistance and a critical external applied pressure frequency of 26 Hz.

In this study, two kinds of composite films, carbon black (CB) and carbon nanotube (CNT) composite films, were fabricated and integrated with flexible printed circuit (FPC) for the flexible tactile sensor. CB and CNT with high compressive strength and low resistivity were immersed into the tissue paper as the sensing materials. The flexible tactile sensors were fabricated by sandwiching the CB/CNT composite film with FPC between two thin polydimethylsiloxane sheets. The tactile sensor is operated by the contact resistance change between CB/CNT composite film and FPC electrode by the different applied force. The measurements of the sensitivity, response time and stability of the fabricated tactile sensors were carried out. The fabricated CB composite film tactile sensor exhibits the sensitivity of 5.05 × 10−2 kPa−1 in the range below 20 kN m−2, the response time of 10 ms, and with the high stability of the loading and unloading pressure.