Periodic Reporting for period 1 - NanoHarvest (Triboelectric Nanogenerators Printed from Composite Inks for Energy Harvesting)
Reporting period: 2023-07-03 to 2025-07-02
The development of scalable, sustainable energy harvesting technologies is central to Europe’s green and digital transition. Triboelectric nanogenerators offer a route to decentralised, low-cost energy generation from ambient motion, yet their adoption is limited by poor durability, complex fabrication, and reliance on fragile or unsustainable materials. This project has presented advances in three key areas: one, the creation of supply resilience as a key metric for electronic nanomaterials in Europe, identifying which materials are both high-performing and locally accessible, ensuring that the TENGs can be produced with European-sourced materials, two sustainable processing of carbon nanotubes and 2D materials in green solvents such as Cyrene, informing the formulation of printable, environmentally responsible nanomaterial inks, and three, engineering charge transport in 2D nanosheet networks, a critical bottleneck in triboelectric performance. Together, these works shape a vision for printable composite inks that are high-performing, scalable, and compatible with additive manufacturing. The project aims to demonstrate a fully printed TENG based on sustainable materials, highlighting its practical potential and broad impact across wearables, sensors, and mobility infrastructure.
The project explored how to enable scalable, sustainable energy devices by advancing nanomaterial sourcing, processing, and performance. First, we developed a supply resilience metric tailored to European access to electronic nanomaterials. This provided a comprehensive map of which materials, based on geographic sourcing and recycling input rates, are both high-performing and regionally accessible. This work identified MoS2 and CNTs as promising candidates for integration into printable electronic devices. Second, we investigated sustainable processing routes using Cyrene, a green solvent, as an alternative to traditional toxic solvents. We demonstrated that low-power sonication can exfoliate carbon nanotubes and graphene with minimal degradation of the solvent, and identified structural changes and degradation products affecting device quality. This informed ink formulation for printable nanomaterials. Third, we focused on junction engineering in solution-processed 2D networks. We reviewed and developed approaches to reduce junction resistance, typically the limiting factor in nanosheet-based devices, through electronic and structural tuning. Collectively, these activities created a robust technical foundation for fabricating printable, durable nanogenerators from sustainable components.
This project has demonstrated a clear route toward sustainable, scalable triboelectric energy harvesting by integrating resilient nanomaterials, green processing methods, and printable ink formulations. NanoHarvest has produced a methodology for assessing access to electronic nanomaterials for the first time, informing multiple fields across academia, industry, and policy. This study provides the basis for viability assessments and identification of contingency materials in the event of supply shocks or global crises, and will be expanded much further to incorporate materials beyond electronics.
Cyrene has been identified as a key green solvent for the synthesis and processing of nanomaterials, however very little was known about its behaviour. NanoHarvest produced a comprehensive study covering all stages of solution processing for nanomaterials, from solvent stability, to synthesis, to printing and device development. NanoHarvest has outlined all the necessary conditions for incorporating cyrene into solution processes for the first time, allowing rapid advances to be made in green processes.
NanoHarvest has also produced the first ever review & perspective on how to engineer the junctions between nanosheets in a thin film to drive higher performance and unlock new functionalities. This revealed new insights into behaviours previously thought to only exist in highly engineered systems, and will lead to significant advances in TENGs that will be published beyond the project’s end date.
These results are well positioned for future Horizon Europe calls, particularly under energy, mobility, and digital innovation themes.
Cyrene has been identified as a key green solvent for the synthesis and processing of nanomaterials, however very little was known about its behaviour. NanoHarvest produced a comprehensive study covering all stages of solution processing for nanomaterials, from solvent stability, to synthesis, to printing and device development. NanoHarvest has outlined all the necessary conditions for incorporating cyrene into solution processes for the first time, allowing rapid advances to be made in green processes.
NanoHarvest has also produced the first ever review & perspective on how to engineer the junctions between nanosheets in a thin film to drive higher performance and unlock new functionalities. This revealed new insights into behaviours previously thought to only exist in highly engineered systems, and will lead to significant advances in TENGs that will be published beyond the project’s end date.
These results are well positioned for future Horizon Europe calls, particularly under energy, mobility, and digital innovation themes.