Triboelectric energy harvesting using conjugated microporous polymer nanoparticles in polyurethane films

This work introduces, for the first time, the energy harvesting performance of conjugated microporous polymers (CMPs) as tribo-positive materials for triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). Various nano or submicron CMP particles (CMP-X) were prepared by the Sonogashira coupling of 1,3,5-triethynylbenzene with 1,4-diiodoarenes. Optimized CMP-X nanoparticles in a polyurethane (PU) matrix showed excellent triboelectrification performance, displaying peak-to-peak voltages of up to 411 V and a maximum power density of 0.80 mW cm−2. Moreover, an optimized 5.0% CMP-H@PU-based TENG could be utilized as a power source for the charging of an electrolytic capacitor and for the operation of 100 LEDs.