3D-printed biomimetic-villus structure with maximized surface area for triboelectric nanogenerator and dust filter

A biomimetic-villus structure that has been fabricated using a three-dimensional (3D) printer, which is a high-resolution additive-manufacturing process, is here introduced for the realizing of a large increase of the surface area beyond the structural limitations, and the intestinal-villus structure that can be produced only by a 3D printer is imitated. The surface area of the 3D-printed biomimetic-villus structure was increased by approximately 300% compared with the planar structure, and to achieve the full contact of this increased surface area, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) powder was used as the triboelectric material, resulting in fivefold and fourfold increases of the electric power output performance in the vertical-direction mode and the rotational-direction mode, respectively. In addition, a dust-filtration system was designed using the large electrostatic charge that formed between an acrylonitrile butadien styrene (ABS) surface and PTFE powders, and dust particles of various sizes were efficiently adsorbed. Further, because of the use of the polymer-based ABS and the PTFE powers, the dust filter is stable and easily reusable, and it was experimentally confirmed after a washing that the filtration efficiency of 41% is nondecreasing. As a result, a successful validation of the use of the 3D-printed biomimetic-villus structure with the maximized surface area as an ecofriendly dust-adsorption system as well as a triboelectric nanogenerator was achieved. We report a complex biomimetic-villus structure that would be extremely difficult to synthesize without the aid of 3D printing technology, and thereof system exhibits 300% increase in surface area. Given feature is favorable for TENG, with a polytetrafluoroethylene powder gets in contact aiming to reach superior level of triboelectrification. We verifies not only theoretically but also experimentally that 3D printing technology provides a key to improve performance of TENG, and also presents it develops new class of application, dust filter. [Display omitted] •We report 3D printed biomimetic villus (BV) structure with high surface area (~300%) forming strong electrostatic charge.•Our findings reveal that 3D printed BV-PTFE pair allows mechanical energy harvesting and fine dust filtering application.•We demonstrate that 3D printed TENG is driven by mechanical energy, where the vertical/rotational motions are employed.•We confirmed that level of electrostatic charge is formed in dust collection, and