Highly Conductive Ferroelectric Cellulose Composite Papers for Efficient Triboelectric Nanogenerators

Paper-based electronics has attracted growing interest owing to many advantages of papers including low-cost, abundance, flexibility, biocompatibility, and environmental friendliness. Despite recent progress in paper electronics, however, development of a high-performance paper-based triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), which is a power-generating device that converts mechanical energy into electric energy by coupling triboelectrification and electrostatic induction, remains a challenge mainly due to weak electron-donating tendency of cellulose-based papers. In this work, highly conductive ferroelectric cellulose composite papers containing silver nanowires and BaTiO₃ nanoparticles are fabricated, and their successful application for realizing a large-area TENG with enhanced electrical output performance is demonstrated. It is found that triboelectric charge generation on the ferroelectric cellulose composite paper can be promoted by simple poling treatment, which significantly enhances TENG performance. The ferroelectric cellulose composite paper–based TENG exhibits an electrical output performance that surpasses those of aluminum-based and pristine cellulose–based TENGs by more than two times, as well as outstanding output stability without a noticeable degradation in performance during 10 000 cycles of a repeated pushing test. The work demonstrates the great potential of multifunctional cellulose-based papers for TENG and other self-powered electronic applications.