Flexible photo-responsive nanofiber composites coupled triboelectric-photovoltaic effect for energy harvesting

Abstract

Perovskite materials have been recently adopted as promising materials to fabricate hybrid nanogenerators (NG) that can simultaneously harvest mechanical and solar energies to address the limitations of low current density of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). However, the instability of perovskite makes it easily disturbed by external environment, thereby affecting its performance. Herein, a photo-responsive wearable nanofiber composite hybrid NG has been designed and fabricated in this work for enhancing the electric performance and stability as well as wearability of hybrid NG coupled with triboelectric-photovoltaic effect by electrospinning technology. Among them, polyacrylonitrile (PAN) as an electrospinning matrix could effectively form a protective layer to improve the stability of perovskite, and the polarization effect induced was more conducive to promoting separation of carriers and increasing current density of TENG. Under illumination, cesium lead bromide (CsPbBr3) generates photo-induced carriers, while polyaniline (PANI) facilitates charge transport, resulting in enhanced electrical output. The hybrid NG presented photo-responsive capability and the output performance exhibits 1.64-fold, 2.2-fold and 1.28-fold enhancement on current, voltage, and charge, respectively, compared with the dark condition. For further application, the hybrid NGs were used as photo-responsive sensors and power supply to drive portable devices. This work demonstrates a structurally integrated strategy that achieves both photo-responsive enhancement and environmental stability, advancing the practical application of perovskite-based NGs in wearable energy harvesting and self-powered sensing systems.