Eco-Friendly Gelatin Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Self-Powered Pani Nanorods/Nico2o4 Nanospheres Ammonia Gas Sensor

Abstract

Low-cost and eco-friendly auxiliary energy supply units to power gas sensors are of great significance to various fields. In this work, a gas sensor based on the PANI/NiCo 2 O 4 composite was powered by a gelatin-polyimide based triboelectric nanogenerator (GP-TENG) for the detection of NH 3 at room temperature. Nanostructured gelatin films prepared with abrasive papers as templates dramatically enhanced the output performance of the GP-TENG, and held excellent degradability in water. The peak-to-peak voltage of the GP-TENG could up to 400 V, and the output power could reach 6.16 mW. The GP-TENG could not only drive low-powered electronic devices such as LEDs and calculators, but also could harvest energy generated by human movements and perform motion detection, such as finger touch, elbow bending, etc. A circuit module of rectifier and voltage regulation was designed to convert AC voltage from the GP-TENG into stable 24 V DC voltage as power supply for the ammonia gas sensor. The GP-TENG, the rectifier and voltage regulation circuit module and the PANI/NiCo 2 O 4 gas sensor were integrated to construct a GP-TENG-driven ammonia gas sensor (GPAS). The GPAS exhibits excellent response (V g /V a = 467%@20 ppm) towards NH 3 sensing, and also shows good repeatability, selectivity and long-term stability. This work provides an eco-friendly and economical solution to fabricate a reliable backup power source to achieve self-powered function for the NH 3 gas sensors, which paves the way for the construction of "smart factory" in the future.

Keywords: triboelectric nanogenerator, Gelatin, Degradable, PANI/NiCo2O4 composite, Self-powered NH3 sensor.