A MWCNT–PVDF/PCL Piezo‐Triboelectric Coupled Nanogenerator by Synergistic Regulation of Microcrystalline Phase and Patterned Structure for Self‐Powered Sensors

Self-powered sensor based on nanogenerator provides a potential strategy for addressing the power concern of intelligent sensor. However, the low output of piezo-triboelectric coupled nanogenerator (PTCNG) severely hinders its applications in self-powered sensor. To manage this issue, a novel PTCNG with synergistic regulation of microcrystalline phases and patterned structures was developed, which is composed of the multi-wall carbon nanotube (MWCNT)-polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membrane prepared by solution electrospinning and the polycaprolactone (PCL) membrane with patterned structures manufactured by melt-electrospinning direct writing. To establish the synergistic effects on the PTCNG output, four different assembled modes of PTCNG were constructed. In comparison to the PTCNG assembled with PVDF/PCL and MWCNT-PVDF/PCL with irregular structures, the obtained PTCNG demonstrates a significantly enhanced output performance with four times and 5.2 times higher. Specifically, the PTCNG exhibits a stable open-circuit voltage (260 V) and contact response time (40 ms) and recovery response time (10 ms) after 75 min of continuous operations at a 4 Hz frequency (over 18 000 loading-unloading cycles). Additionally, this PTCNG can charge a 3.3µF capacitor to a voltage of around 29 V within 120 s, power 104 series-connected LEDs, etc., suggesting a promising potential in self-powered sensor.