Enhancement of Output Performance of Triboelectric Nanogenerator by Switchable Stimuli in Metal–Organic Frameworks for Photocatalysis

Precise
control of the structure of crystalline materials is an
efficient strategy to manipulate the fundamental performance of solids.
In metal–organic framework (MOF) materials, this control can
be realized by reversible cation-exchange through chemically driven
changes in the crystalline state. Herein, we reported that the reversible
structural transformations between an anionic Zn-MOF (1) and a topologically equivalent bimetallic Zn/Co-MOF (2) were accomplished. Both MOFs powders and their hybrid composites
were used as positive electrode materials to assemble triboelectric
nanogenerators (TENGs). The results demonstrated that the output performance
of the Zn/Co-MOF-TENG was effectively improved because the introduction
of Co ions makes electron transfer easier. Moreover, the output performance
of the TENGs based on MOF@PVDF (PVDF = polyvinylidene fluoride) composite
films showed that the Zn/Co-MOF@PVDF-TENG possessed much higher output
than these corresponding film-based and MOF-based TENGs. As a practical
application, the superior output of Zn/Co-MOF@PVDF-TENG was used to
light an ultraviolet lamp plate for the [2 + 2] photochemical cycloaddition
of organometallic macrocycles.