Improving Relative Permittivity and Suppressing Dielectric Loss of Triboelectric Layers for High-Performance Wearable Electricity Generation

High relative permittivity and low dielectric loss are two desired parameters of a triboelectric layer to enhance its mechanical-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency in a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). However, the elevated permittivity of the triboelectric layer is always accompanied by increasing dielectric loss, limiting further improvement or even reducing the electrical output. Herein, we report a method for improving the relative permittivity and suppressing the dielectric loss of the triboelectric layer via nanoscale design at the particle-polymer interface. When incorporated with 2 wt % Ag@C, the triboelectric-layer-enhanced TENG (TLE-TENG) presents a 2.6-fold increment in relative permittivity and a 302% current enhancement. An instantaneous peak power density of 1.22 W m-2, an excellent pressure sensitivity of 90.95 V kPa-1, and an optimized sheet resistance (∼0.14 ω/sq) are attributes of this greatly enhanced device. Such improvements bode well for the implementation of these enhancing strategies to help position TLE-TENGs as pervasive and sustainable power sources and active self-powered sensors in the era of the Internet of Things.