Gigantic stimulation in response by solar irradiation in self-healable and self-powered LPG sensor based on triboelectric nanogenerator: Experimental and DFT computational study

The present paper reports the highest sensor response of Solar light induced, battery-less and self-healable LPG sensor powered by triboelectric nanogenerator. This work establishes the concept of waste to energy conversion and utilization of waste energy (finger tapping) for driving sensors for green and sustainable development. In this study synthesis of 2D PANI-PPY (2P) nanosheets by the polymerization and further its employment as PDMS/PANI-PPY (3P) based TENG is demonstrated. The fabricated TENG exhibits high output voltage of 142 volts and 80 µA current. 3P polymer nano-composite showed fast self-healing capability under 35 min. The assembled 3P based self-powered LPG sensor exhibits exceptional response and sensitivity under light illumination. The maximum sensor response of 94.67 (% response = 9367%) and the sensitivity 52.67 SR/vol% were found under 30 mW/cm² visible light radiance, which illustrates that the developed material is extremely responsive and sensitive under light condition even at a very low concentration of LPG below LEL (2 vol%). The least recovery and response times of the material were measured to be 172 ms and 580 ms correspondingly. The theoretical analysis confirms that Cl-doped 2P was highly reactive and exhibited high negative potential sites to interact with the H⁺ ion of LPG.