Optimization of Electrospinning Parameters for Electrospun Nanofiber-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerators

In this study, the effects of various fabrication parameters on the electrical performance of an electrospun nanofiber-based triboelectric nanogenerator (EN-TENG) are systematically investigated through the design of experiments. We selected four fabrication parameters to examine, namely: (i) working distance (needle to collector distance), (ii) needle gauge, (iii) electrospinning time, and (iv) counter materials. A mixed orthogonal array of L-18 experiments was designed with respect to the one factor having two level values and three factors having three level values. The open circuit voltage of the EN-TENG was varied from 86.1 to 576.7 V with the aforementioned fabrication parameters. A longer working distance, a larger needle gauge, and a longer electrospinning time increased the open circuit voltage. The power density of the optimized EN-TENG was approximately 2.39 W/m(2) at a 100 M omega load resistance and was sufficient to illuminate a total of 200 LEDs.