Waste to energy: Facile, low-cost and environment-friendly triboelectric nanogenerators using recycled plastic and electronic wastes for self-powered portable electronics

Human are producing plastic and electronic wastes in huge amount, polluting our environment especially water resources and causing life-threatening complications. On the other hand, the increasing consumption of fossil energy is further damaging our environment. To help mitigate these problems, we present a facile, environment-friendly, and low-cost triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) by recycling plastic and electronic waste for power generation through biomechanical energy. The proposed graphite and plastic based triboelectric nanogenerator (GP-TENG) is fabricated by recycling the electronic waste (dry cells) to get graphite and the plastic bottles to get plastic. GP-TENG is fabricated by low-cost, facile, and environment-friendly in-house rapid fabrication process which is solvent- and cleanroom-free and doesn’t require specialized equipment and expertise. The output performance of the GP-TENG is systematically studied with an open-circuit voltage of 83.88 V, short circuit current of 101 μA, and maximum output power density of 26.54 μW/cm2. To demonstrate its practical applications, a digital calculator, an electronic watch, and nineteen blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) were powered using GP-TENG. Our approach generates renewable energy by recycling plastics and electronic wastes, and therefore it provides a sustainable and viable path towards the vision of building a green world. [Display omitted] •Waste materials like dry cell electrodes and plastic bottles are recycled.•No specialized equipment is required for the fabrication as simple process is used.•Common household materials (dry cell, plastic bottle, paper, tape etc.) are used.•GP-TENG can power portable electronics and high powered (5.9 mW) LEDs.