Triboelectric Nanogenerator as an Active UV Photodetector

Self‐powered nanosensors and nanosystems have attracted significant attention in the past decades and have gradually become the most desirable and promising prototype for environmental protection/detection because no battery is needed to power the device. Therefore, in this paper a design is proposed for a self‐powered photodetector based on triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) configuration. 3D dendritic TiO2 nanostructures are synthesized as the built‐in UV photodetector as well as the contact material of the TENG. The cost‐effective, robust, and easily fabricated TENG‐based photodetector presents superior photoresponse characteristics, which include an excellent responsivity over 280 A W−1, rapid rise time (18 ms) and decay time (31 ms), and a wide detection range of light intensity from 20 μW cm−2 to 7 mW cm−2. In the last part of the paper, a stand‐alone and self‐powered environmental sensing device is developed by applying poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) substrates and springs to assemble the TENG‐based photodetector. These results indicate that the new prototype sensing device based on the TENG configuration shows great potential as a self‐powered photodetector. A fully integrated and active UV photodetector based on a triboelectric nanogenerator configuration is successfully demonstrated. Dendritic TiO2 nanostructures are designed as a built‐in photodetector and contact material of the triboelectric nanogenerator. With the advantages of easy fabrication, low cost, rapid response time, and excellent responsivity, this self‐powered active UV photodetector presents a new approach for building functional devices.