Comparative Study of Triboelectric Nanogenerators with Differently Woven Cotton Textiles for Wearable Electronics

• Main Authors: Jaebum Jeong, Jin-Hyuk Kwon, Kyungmin Lim, Swarup Biswas, Alexandra Tibaldi, Suwoong Lee, Hyun Ju Oh, Jong-Hyoung Kim, Jaehoon Ko, Dong-Wook Lee, Hanchul Cho, Philippe Lang, Jaewon Jang, Sohee Lee, Jin-Hyuk Bae, Hyeok Kim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-09-01
• Series: Polymers
• Subjects: triboelectric nanogenerator; cotton fiber surface; woven cotton textile; output voltage
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/11/9/1443
• ISSN: 2073-4360

A comparative study of the electrical performance of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) with plain- and 2/1 twill-woven cotton textiles was conducted. Furthermore, the microstructures of the cotton fiber surfaces were examined to understand the fundamental mechanical interaction among the cotton fibers in the TENGs. The TENG with 2/1 twill-woven cotton textiles exhibited higher output voltages compared to that with plain-woven cotton textiles. The difference in the output voltage between the two types of TENGs resulted from the difference in triboelectric charge generation between the constituent cotton textiles. The higher output voltage of the TENG with 2/1 twill-woven cotton textiles was attributed to the higher density in triboelectric interactions among the cotton fiber molecules.