Mechanically Robust Triboelectric Aerogels Enabled by Dense Bridging of MXene

Abstract

Aerogels are widely applied for construction, aerospace, military, and energy owing to their lightweight, high specific surface area, and high porosity. The high porosity of aerogels often leads to a lack of mechanical strength, which limits their applications. Here, this study reports a mechanically robust MXene/cellulose nanocrystal composite aerogel enabled by inducing dense bridging through salting-out. First, MXene sheets are bridged with cellulose molecular chains via hydrogen bonds, and further dense bridging is constructed by promoting hydrogen bond formation through salting-out. By enhancing hydrogen bonding, the interlayer spacing of MXene sheets is reduced and their orientation is improved, effectively increasing the energy dissipation capacity of the porous structure. The aerogel exhibits a Young’s modulus of 72.4 MPa, a specific modulus of 342.0 kN m/kg. An aerogel is used as a triboelectric material to construct a highly robust triboelectric nanogenerator. This study provides an effective strategy for the preparation of the mechanically robust aerogels.