Flexible Self-Powered Real-Time Ultraviolet Photodetector by Coupling Triboelectric and Photoelectric Effects

Yi Zhang, Mingfa Peng, Yina Liu, Tingting Zhang, Qianqian Zhu, Hao Lei, Sainan Liu, Yi Tao, Long Li, Zhen Wen, Xuhui Sun*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

90 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The portable UV photodetector is used to timely remind humans of overexposure to UV radiation. However, the traditional UV photodetector cannot meet the practical demands, and the power supply problem hinders its further development. In this work, we demonstrated a flexible, transparent, and self-powered UV photodetector by coupling of triboelectric and photoelectric effects. The device integrates a flexible ZnO nanoparticle (NP) UV photodetector, a transparent- and flexible-film-based TENG (TFF-TENG), commercial chip resistors, and LEDs on the PET thin film. The TFF-TENG could harvest mechanical energy from finger tapping and sliding motion and power the ZnO NP UV photodetector to realize self-powered detection. The voltage of the constant resistors connected with the UV photodetector in series changes from 0.5 to 19 V under the UV light with power intensities increasing from 0.46 to 21.8 mW/cm2, and the voltage variation is reflected by the number of LEDs directly. The excellent flexibility and transparency of the device could extend its application scenarios; for example, such a portable device could be applied to real-time monitoring of the UV radiation to remind humans of intense UV light.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)19384-19392
Number of pages9
JournalACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
Volume12
Issue number17
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 29 Apr 2020

Keywords

  • UV photodetector
  • flexible
  • self-powered sensor
  • transparent
  • triboelectric nanogenerator

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