3D Printed SnS₂/SnS-Based Nanocomposite Hydrogel as a Photoenhanced Triboelectric Nanogenerator

Recent advancements in printing technologies have led to new fabrication techniques for the development of various flexible, compact, wearable, and portable energy harvesters and self-powered devices. In particular, the three-dimensional printing (3DP) technology for a nanogenerator has become advantageous due to its low cost, simplicity, and high precision in fabricating complicated structures. Therefore, we report a 3DP-based photoinduced triboelectric nanogenerator (PTNG) fabrication, a hybrid version of a conventional triboelectric nanogenerator. Here, a 3D printed poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanocomposite hydrogel (3DPH) with photoactive SnS 2 /SnS nanoflakes is used as a tribo-positive material and copper foil as a tribo-negative material for PTNG application. Under light illumination, the as-fabricated PTNG with an optimized weight percentage of SnS 2 /SnS displays the open-circuit voltage ( V oc ) enhancement from 29 to 37.5 V and short-circuit current ( I sc ) enhancement from 1.23 to 1.58 μA. In addition, the power density of the device is observed at 5.4 μW/cm 2 under illumination conditions at the external load of 60 MΩ. This enhanced performance of the as-fabricated PTNG is attributed to the mutual coupling effect and improved interfacial interactions between the SnS 2 /SnS nanoflakes and PVA under the influence of light illumination, leading to a charge-trapping mechanism. The outstanding performance and stability of the as-fabricated PTNG surpassing all similar recent reports, establish it as an effective hybrid platform for constructing multifunctional self-powered devices.