Triboelectric Nanogenerator With Hybrid Polymer Composites Based on Multiaxial Molecular Ferroelectric

Molecular ferroelectrics are garnering growing interest across various applications and have only recently been utilized in triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). However, their use has largely been confined to uniaxial ferroelectrics, with multiaxial ferroelectrics remaining underexplored. In this letter, we introduce a newly constructed TENG based on a multiaxial ferroelectric material, 3,3-difluorocyclobutanammonium hydrochloride [(3,3-DFCBA)Cl], which showcases distinctive traits of multiaxial ferroelectricity, a strong piezoelectric coefficient (d₃₃) of 33 pC/N, and a remarkable piezoelectric voltage coefficient of (g₃₃) of 437.2 x 10^-3 Vm/N, about twice than that of polyvinylidene difluoride, making it highly suitable for the emerging field of wearable sensors. Herein, the multiaxial ferroelectric material (3,3-DFCBA)Cl was incorporated into a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite, with electrospun polyvinyl alcohol fibers serving as the positive triboelectric layer. The resulting TENG device achieved the highest output voltage of 233 V and a maximum power density of 361 mW/m² under an optimal load of 20 MΩ for the optimized 10 wt% PDMS/(3,3-DFCBA)Cl composite device. In addition, the harvested energy proved effective for capacitor charging applications.