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Enhanced triboelectrification of the polydimethylsiloxane surface by ultraviolet irradiation

2016; American Institute of Physics; Volume: 108; Issue: 13 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1063/1.4945052

1520-8842

Jong Hun Kim, Byung Kil Yun, Jong Hoon Jung, Jeong Young Park,

Innovative Energy Harvesting Technologies

Study of the triboelectric charging effect has recently gained much attraction by proposing a new potential technical application in the field of energy harvesting. Transparent polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) has some advantages in employing the triboelectric effect due to good conformity at nanometer scale and the simple fabrication process. In this study, we demonstrate that UV irradiation can enhance the performance of a PDMS-based nanotribogenerator. Contact atomic force microscopy combined with Kelvin probe force microscopy enables an in-depth investigation of the effect of UV illumination on local triboelectric charge generation and its decay in PDMS. We found that UV exposure not only facilitates triboelectric charge generation but also enhances charge redistribution, which is related to the wettability of the PDMS surface. This study provides insights into the fundamental understanding and design of triboelectric generator devices.