Facile roughness fabrications and their roughness effects on electrical outputs of the triboelectric nanogenerator

This study introduced a new facile roughness fabrication method for the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). Solid salt was applied to induce the macroscopic triangle-like roughness on material surface in which the density could be controlled. Additionally, the roughness effect on the electrical property of TENG was investigated. Three roughness fabrication techniques were designed to make textures for TENG materials by producing certain roughness formations. The highest electrical outputs (voltage and current) were found in the device designed for matching the roughness textures. Both output voltage and current increased by about 3 times when compared with the non-textured device. The increase of electrical outputs of TENG was due to the increase of roughness area, leading to more triboelectric charge generation. This work presented a new feasible fabrication technique and suggested a scheme to engineer the roughness for enhancing the TENG performance, which is crucial for TENG-based device development and practical use in the future.