A research team led by Prof. Dr. Naratip Vittayakorn from King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang successfully developed the multifunctional cellulose filter paper for use as Triboelectric Nanogenerator (TENG). TENG generates electricity when nano surfaces are rubbing or contacting together which can transform mechanical or heat energy at small amount into electricity. Moreover, TENG is a nanomaterial known for its light weight, low price, and high efficiency.

          TENG consists of Ti_0.8O₂nanosheets (Ti_0.8O₂NSs) which is a dielectric material capable of storing electricity, and Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs) which has electrical conductivity property. The research team applied the Synchrotron X-ray Tomographic Microscopy (XTM) technique at the XTM end-station, Synchrotron Light Research Institute (Public Organization) to study and analyze the research outcome. By applying this technique, the research team can clearly detect scattering patterns of both Ti_0.8O₂NSs and Ag NPs in different layers of the filter paper. The finding led to conclusion that Ti_0.8O₂NSs helped enhancing efficiency of the filter paper in building electric charge and Ag NPs helped raising amount of the charge transfer channel. These two substances are key factors resulting in the productive efficiency of TENG as electrical generator (Figure 1).

 

Figure 1 (a)-(d) showing 3D graphic photos gained from applying Synchrotron XTM technique on each layer of composite film in the multifunctional cellulose filter paper consisting of 3 Ti_0.8O₂NSs layers and 5 Ag NPs layers (scattering patterns of PDMS, the multifunctional cellulose filter paper, Ti_0.8O₂NSs, and Ag NPs were shown in purple, yellow, light blue, and red, respectively).

 

Article by Dr. Catleya Rojviriya

               Beamline Manager and Scientist