Crystal boundary engineering-dominated high-performance chitosan-based triboelectric nanogenerator for self-powered breath-activated ammonia sensors

Abstract

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) as a clean energy-harvesting technology are experiencing significant growth in the pursuit of carbon neutrality, accompanied by the increasing use of environmentally friendly biomaterials. However, biomaterials exhibit inferior triboelectric properties compared with petro-materials, hindering the development of bio-based TENGs. Here, leveraging the crystal boundary-tuning strategy, we develop a chitosan aerogel-based TENG (CS-TENG) that is capable of delivering power density over 116 W m^–2, beyond that of the previous reports for CS-TENG by an order of magnitude. With a high output voltage of 3200 V, the CS-TENG directly illuminated 1000 LEDs in series. Notably, the CS aerogel exhibits self-healing, waste recycling and gas-sensitive properties, ensuring the long-term durability, environmental benignity and sensing characteristics of the CS-TENG. Furthermore, a breath-activated mask-integrated CS-TENG ammonia monitoring system is engineered, which accurately detects changes in ammonia concentration within the range of 10–160 ppm, enabling real-time monitoring of ammonia in the environment. Our results set a record for the ultrahigh power density of CS-TENG, representing a significant advancement in the practical application of TENGs.

Keywords

ammonia sensors / chitosan / crystal boundary / triboelectric nanogenerator

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