Ag Nanoparticle-Incorporated Natural Rubber for Mechanical Energy Harvesting Application

The energy conversion performance of the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is a function of triboelectric charges which depend on the intrinsic properties of materials to hold charges or the dielectric properties of triboelectric materials. In this work, Ag nanoparticles were synthesized and used to incorporate into natural rubber (NR) in order to enhance the dielectric constant for enhancing the electrical output of TENG. It was found that the size of Ag nanoparticles was reduced with the increasing CTAB concentration. Furthermore, the CTAB surfactant helped the dispersion of metallic Ag nanoparticles in the NR-insulating matrix, which promoted interfacial polarization that affected the dielectric properties of the NR composite. Ag nanoparticle-incorporated NR films exhibited an improved dielectric constant of up to almost 40% and an enhanced TENG performance that generated the highest power density of 262.4 mW/m(2).