Recently,
atmospheric pollution caused by particulate matter or
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has become a serious issue to threaten
human health. Consequently, it is highly desirable to develop an efficient
purifying technique with simple structure and low cost. In this study,
by combining a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) and a photocatalysis
technique, we demonstrated a concept of a self-powered filtering method
for removing pollutants from indoor atmosphere. The photocatalyst
P25 or Pt/P25 was embedded on the surface of polymer-coated stainless
steel wires, and such steel wires were woven into a filtering network.
A strong electric field can be induced on this filtering network by
TENG, while both electrostatic adsorption effect and TENG-enhanced
photocatalytic effect can be achieved. Rhodamine B (RhB) steam was
selected as the pollutant for demonstration. The absorbed RhB on the
filter network with TENG in 1 min was almost the same amount of absorption
achieved in 15 min without using TENG. Meanwhile, the degradation
of RhB was increased over 50% under the drive of TENG. Furthermore,
such a device was applied for the degradation of formaldehyde, where
degradation efficiency was doubled under the drive of TENG. This work
extended the application for the TENG in self-powered electrochemistry,
design and concept of which can be possibly applied in the field of
haze governance, indoor air cleaning, and photocatalytic pollution
removal for environmental protection
