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Contributions of Different Functional Groups to Contact Electrification of Polymers
Author(s) -
Li Shuyao,
Nie Jinhui,
Shi Yuxiang,
Tao Xinglin,
Wang Fan,
Tian Jingwen,
Lin Shiquan,
Chen Xiangyu,
Wang Zhong Lin
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.202001307
Subject(s) - contact electrification , polymer , triboelectric effect , materials science , polarity (international relations) , functional polymers , density functional theory , side chain , chemical physics , computational chemistry , composite material , chemistry , copolymer , biochemistry , cell
Polymers are commonly used to fabricate triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). Here, several polymer films with similar main chains but different functional groups on the side chain are employed to clarify the contributions of each functional group to contact electrification (CE). The results show that the electron‐withdrawing (EW) ability and density of these functional groups on the main chain can determine both the polarity and density of CE‐induced surface charges. Similar results are obtained for CE in both the polymer–polymer and polymer–liquid modes. A theoretical mechanism involving electron cloud overlap is proposed to explain all of these results. More importantly, the unsaturated groups on poly(tetrafluoroethylene) molecular chain are proved to have a much stronger EW ability than the saturated groups. The density of these unsaturated groups can be increased using a sputtering technique, suggesting that this is a facile and effective method of enhancing the performance of TENGs. These results clarify the correlation between the molecular structure and macroscopic electrification behavior of polymers.