Reviving Vibration Energy Harvesting and Self-Powered Sensing by a Triboelectric Nanogenerator

The first stretchable energy-harvesting electronic-skin device capable of differentiating and generating energy from various mechanical stimuli, such as normal pressure, lateral strain, bending, and vibration, is presented. A pressure sensitivity of 0.7 kPa(-1) is achieved in the pressure region <1 kPa with power generation of tens of μW cm(-2) from a gentle finger touch.

Stretchable Energy-Harvesting Tactile Electronic Skin Capable of Differentiating Multiple Mechanical Stimuli Modes

Due to the outstanding physicochemical properties arising from its truly two-dimensional (2D) planar structure with a single-atom thickness, graphene exhibits great potential for use in sensors, catalysts, electrodes, and in biological applications, etc. With further developments in the theoretical understanding and assembly techniques, graphene should enable great changes both in scientific research and practical industrial applications. By the look of development, it is of fundamental and practical significance to translate the novel physical and chemical properties of individual graphene nanosheets into the macroscale by the assembly of graphene building blocks into macroscopic architectures with structural specialities and functional novelties. The combined features of a 2D planar structure and abundant functional groups of graphene oxide (GO) should provide great possibilities for the assembly of GO nanosheets into macroscopic architectures with different macroscaled shapes through various assembly techniques under different bonding interactions. Moreover, macroscopic graphene frameworks can be used as ideal scaffolds for the incorporation of functional materials to offset the shortage of pure graphene in the specific desired functionality. The advantages of light weight, supra-flexibility, large surface area, tough mechanical strength, and high electrical conductivity guarantee graphene-based architectures wide application fields. This critical review mainly addresses recent advances in the design and fabrication of graphene-based macroscopic assemblies and architectures and their potential applications. Herein, we first provide overviews of the functional macroscopic graphene materials from three aspects, i.e., 1D graphene fibers/ribbons, 2D graphene films/papers, 3D network-structured graphene monoliths, and their composite counterparts with either polymers or nano-objects. Then, we present the promising potential applications of graphene-based macroscopic assemblies in the fields of electronic and optoelectronic devices, sensors, electrochemical energy devices, and in water treatment. Last, the personal conclusions and perspectives for this intriguing field are given.

Graphene-based macroscopic assemblies and architectures: an emerging material system.

A 125 μm thickness, rollable, paper-based triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has been developed for harvesting sound wave energy, which is capable of delivering a maximum power density of 121 mW/m(2) and 968 W/m(3) under a sound pressure of 117 dBSPL. The TENG is designed in the contact-separation mode using membranes that have rationally designed holes at one side. The TENG can be implemented onto a commercial cell phone for acoustic energy harvesting from human talking; the electricity generated can be used to charge a capacitor at a rate of 0.144 V/s. Additionally, owing to the superior advantages of a broad working bandwidth, thin structure, and flexibility, a self-powered microphone for sound recording with rolled structure is demonstrated for all-sound recording without an angular dependence. The concept and design presented in this work can be extensively applied to a variety of other circumstances for either energy-harvesting or sensing purposes, for example, wearable and flexible electronics, military surveillance, jet engine noise reduction, low-cost implantable human ear, and wireless technology applications.

Ultrathin, Rollable, Paper-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Acoustic Energy Harvesting and Self-Powered Sound Recording

As a vastly available energy source in our daily life, acoustic vibrations are usually taken as noise pollution with little use as a power source. In this work, we have developed a triboelectrification-based thin-film nanogenerator for harvesting acoustic energy from ambient environment. Structured using a polytetrafluoroethylene thin film and a holey aluminum film electrode under carefully designed straining conditions, the nanogenerator is capable of converting acoustic energy into electric energy via triboelectric transduction. With an acoustic sensitivity of 9.54 V Pa–1 in a pressure range from 70 to 110 dB and a directivity angle of 52°, the nanogenerator produced a maximum electric power density of 60.2 mW m–2, which directly lit 17 commercial light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Furthermore, the nanogenerator can also act as a self-powered active sensor for automatically detecting the location of an acoustic source with an error less than 7 cm. In addition, an array of devices with varying resonance frequ...

Triboelectrification-Based Organic Film Nanogenerator for Acoustic Energy Harvesting and Self-Powered Active Acoustic Sensing

High-quality and wafer-scale graphene on insulating gate dielectrics is a prerequisite for graphene electronic applications. For such applications, graphene is typically synthesized and then transferred to a desirable substrate for subsequent device processing. Direct production of graphene on substrates without transfer is highly desirable for simplified device processing. However, graphene synthesis directly on substrates suitable for device applications, though highly demanded, remains unattainable and challenging. Here, we report a simple, transfer-free method capable of synthesizing graphene directly on dielectric substrates at temperatures as low as 600 °C using polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as the carbon source. Significantly, N-doping and patterning of graphene can be readily and concurrently achieved by this growth method. Remarkably, the graphene films directly grown on glass attained a small sheet resistance of 550 Ω/sq and a high transmittance of 91.2%. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs)...

Transfer-Free Synthesis of Doped and Patterned Graphene Films

Graphene oxide (GO), a derivative of graphene, consists of a hexagonal ring of carbon network having both sp 2 - and sp 3 -hybridized carbon atoms bearing hydroxyl and epoxide functional groups on basal planes, as well as carbonyl and carboxyl groups at the edges of the sheet. [8, 9] Those functional groups can extensively modify the electronic structure and chemical properties of GO, [10–12] enabling various applications. [14–24] Here, we report the exciting application of GO as a flexible, high-efficiency nanogenerator, realized through oxygen-containing functional groups which enable GO to store charges and harvest acoustic energy. In this study, GO exfoliated from a modified Hummer method [13, 14] was used to fabricate a nanogenerator, which could convert acoustic energy to electricity at a high conversion efficiency of 12.1 %. The induced mean current is sensitively dependent on the pH values of the suspensions used to prepare the GO films. The findings reveal the exciting potential of GO for fabricating nanogenerators for energy harvesting, as well as a novel avenue for nanoelectronic

Flexible Nanogenerators Based on Graphene Oxide Films for Acoustic Energy Harvesting

Photon-energy-dependent light effects in organic nano-floating-gate nonvolatile memories

Micrometer-sized single-crystalline In2Se3 nanosheets are synthesized by epitaxial growth from In2Se3 nanowires. The In2Se3 nanosheets possess anisotropic structural configuration with intralayer covalent bonding and interlayer van der Waals bonding. Phototransistors based on the In2Se3 nanosheets are realized, and the devices show high photoresponsivity and high photo On/Off ratio up to two orders. The photo-gating effect can be modulated by the gate bias, indicating potential utility of the In2Se3 nanosheets in a variety of optoelectronic applications.

Phototransistor based on single In2Se3nanosheets

Intrinsic Ge nanowires (NWs) with a Ge core covered by a thick Ge oxide shell are utilized to achieve nanoscale field-effect transistor nonvolatile memories, which show a large memory window and a high ON/OFF ratio with good retention. The retainable surface charge trapping is considered to be responsible for the memory effect, and the Ge oxide shell plays a key role as the insulating tunneling dielectric which must be thick enough to prevent stored surface charges from leaking out. Annealing the device in air is demonstrated to be a simple and effective way to attain thick Ge oxide on the Ge NW surface, and the Ge-NW-based memory corresponding to thick Ge oxide exhibits a much better retention capability compared with the case of thin Ge oxide.

Qin-Liang Li

Papers

Transfer-Free Synthesis of Doped and Patterned Graphene Films

Flexible Nanogenerators Based on Graphene Oxide Films for Acoustic Energy Harvesting

Photon-energy-dependent light effects in organic nano-floating-gate nonvolatile memories

Phototransistor based on single In2Se3nanosheets

Intrinsic Ge nanowire nonvolatile memory based on a simple core-shell structure