3D-printed biomimetic-villus structure with maximized surface area for triboelectric nanogenerator and dust filter

Abstract

A biomimetic-villus structure that has been fabricated using a three-dimensional (3D) printer, which is a high-resolution additive-manufacturing process, is here introduced for the realizing of a large increase of the surface area beyond the structural limitations, and the intestinal-villus structure that can be produced only by a 3D printer is imitated. The surface area of the 3D-printed biomimetic-villus structure was increased by approximately 300% compared with the planar structure, and to achieve the full contact of this increased surface area, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) powder was used as the triboelectric material, resulting in fivefold and fourfold increases of the electric power output performance in the vertical-direction mode and the rotational-direction mode, respectively. In addition, a dust-filtration system was designed using the large electrostatic charge that formed between an acrylonitrile butadien styrene (ABS) surface and PTFE powders, and dust particles of various sizes were efficiently adsorbed. Further, because of the use of the polymer-based ABS and the PTFE powers, the dust filter is stable and easily reusable, and it was experimentally confirmed after a washing that the filtration efficiency of 41% is nondecreasing. As a result, a successful validation of the use of the 3D-printed biomimetic-villus structure with the maximized surface area as an ecofriendly dust-adsorption system as well as a triboelectric nanogenerator was achieved.