An Eco-friendly Porous Nanocomposite Fabric-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Efficient Energy Harvesting and Motion Sensing

Abstract

A wearable and effective tribopositive material, especially an economical and eco-friendly triboelectric fabric developed from biomaterials, is highly crucial for the development of green wearable triboelectric nanogenerators. In this work, we design a porous nanocomposite fabric (PNF) with strong charge accumulation capacity through a facile dry-casting method and use it as a tribopositive material to construct attractive wearable triboelectric nanogenerators (abbreviated as TENGs). Specifically, the porous nanocomposite is developed by the incorporation of nano-Al 2 O 3 fillers into cellulose acetate networks. By adjusting the concentration of casting solution and the content of nano-Al 2 O 3 fillers, we systematically engineer the physical properties of the PNF for obtaining a large triboelectric charge yield. When a 10 wt % solution concentration and 10 wt % nanofiller content are adopted for the PNF, the corresponding PNF-TENG can deliver an electrical performance of ∼2.5 mW/cm 2 on a 0.8 MΩ external resistor. This remarkable output can be ascribed to the synergistic effect between the appropriate porous network and improved dielectric properties of the nanocomposite. Moreover, the PNF-TENG also exhibits good reliable electrical outputs under multiple stain-washing measurements or after experiencing cyclical contact− separation 13,500 times. Also, the device is capable of charging various capacitors, lighting LED arrays, and driving commercial wrist watches and is proven to be an efficient and reliable green wearable power source. Furthermore, a PNF-TENG-based elbow supporter and a grip ball, as self-powered sensors, are proposed to realize real-time detection for human actions during sports exercise. This work proposes an eco-friendly nanocomposite fabric as an effective tribopositive material, verifies the feasibility of developing environmentally friendly wearable power sources and sensors, and provides new insights into the design of green wearable triboelectric nanogenerators.

Eco-Friendly Triboelectric Material Based on Natural Rubber and Activated Carbon from Human Hair

“…Porous-structured materials have been employed to improve the TENG performance. This contributes to the increased electrification in the internal structure, which promotes triboelectric charge generation and accumulation [ 34 , 35 ]. Activated carbon (AC) is a carbonaceous material with a high porosity and surface area, which can be derived from natural carbon sources, such as plants, animals, and minerals [ 36 ].…”

Two-Dimensional MOF Modulated Fiber Nanogenerator for Effective Acoustoelectric Conversion and Human Motion Detection

“…In the past few years, flexible and wearable electronics including solar cells, nanogenerators, field effect transistors (FETs), and electronic skin (e-skin) have been extensively investigated due to their potential applications in human–machine interfaces, the internet of things (IoT), robot automation, and the biomedical field. − Of particular interest, nanogenerators and e-skin have attracted widespread attention around the world because of their ability to mimic comprehensive properties of human skin and to detect different mechanical stimuli such as pressure, strain, and flexion in self-power mode. − Additionally, miniaturization, portability, and easy integration with apparel for scavenging mechanical energy from human body motion established the human and machine integration that may have potential utility in the healthcare sector such as rehabilitation assistance after orthopedic surgery, voice recognition, and circulatory system monitoring of overall health status . Moreover, wearable pressure sensors must satisfy the following necessary prerequisites: high sensitivity, a wide pressure-sensing range, and a quick response/recovery time.…”

Autonomously Adhesive, Stretchable, and Transparent Solid‐State Polyionic Triboelectric Patch for Wearable Power Source and Tactile Sensor

“…[ 18,19 ] Moreover, the electrical pulse generated from TENG can be used as an effective feedback signal to reveal and differentiate the attributes of external stimuli, showing great potential in self‐powered tactile sensors with no extra power. [ 10,20,21 ] However, TENGs used for power source and tactile sensor mostly used metal materials as current collectors, resulting in the nonextensibility of devices. To this end, in recent years, many efforts have focused on the development of deformable electrodes, such as elastic polymers embedded with conductive fillers (Ag nanowire, [ 22,23 ] carbon nanotube, [ 24,25 ] etc.…”