Recycling Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Pipe Wastes into PVC/ZnO Nanofiber-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerators
Yavari S. Sembay M. Bushanov Y. Bakenov Z. Shafiee M. Kalimuldina G.
May 2025John Wiley and Sons Inc
Energy and Environmental Materials
2025#8Issue 3
Recycling plastic waste into triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) presents a sustainable approach to energy harvesting, self-powered sensing, and environmental remediation. This study investigates the recycling of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe waste polymers into nanofibers (NFs) optimized for TENG applications. We focused on optimizing the morphology of recycled PVC polymer to NFs and enhancing their piezoelectric properties by incorporating ZnO nanoparticles (NPs). The optimized PVC/0.5 wt% ZnO NFs were tested with Nylon-6 NFs, and copper (Cu) electrodes. The Nylon-6 NFs exhibited a power density of 726.3 μW cm−2—1.13 times higher than Cu and maintained 90% stability after 172 800 cycles, successfully powering various colored LEDs. Additionally, a 3D-designed device was developed to harvest energy from biomechanical movements such as finger tapping, hand tapping, and foot pressing, making it suitable for wearable energy harvesting, automatic switches, and invisible sensors in surveillance systems. This study demonstrates that recycling polymers for TENG devices can effectively address energy, sensor, and environmental challenges.
energy harvesting , motion sensors , piezoelectric zinc oxide , polyvinyl chloride (PVC) , recycling , triboelectric nanogenerators
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Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Kabanbay Batyr Ave. 53, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
Department of Robotics Engineering, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Kabanbay Batyr Ave. 53, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Kabanbay Batyr Ave. 53, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Department of Robotics Engineering
Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
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