Upcycled waste-derived triboelectric nanogenerator for sustainable energy harvesting

The proliferation of disposable paper-based materials in laboratories has raised significant environmental concerns due to their rapid discard and accumulation. This study explores the upcycling of commonly discarded laboratory waste, specifically butter paper and polyurethane (PU) foam, into a single-electrode triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) for mechanical energy harvesting. The fabricated device employs butter paper as the positive triboelectric layer and PU foam as the negative layer, with an aluminium tape electrode. Electrical tests reveal a peak voltage of 21 V and current of 47 nA, reaching a maximum power of 438 nW at 500 MΩ load. The TENG demonstrates stable performance over three weeks and efficiently charges capacitors of various capacitances. Its sensitivity to biomechanical stimuli such as finger, palm, and foot tapping showcases potential applications in wearable electronics and gesture recognition. Integration with a neural network classifier achieves high accuracy in input pattern recognition, underscoring the device's promise for sustainable energy harvesting and smart sensing technologies in laboratory waste valorisation.