Continuous and Scalable Manufacture of Hybridized Nano-Micro Triboelectric Yarns for Energy Harvesting and Signal Sensing

Abstract

Textile-based triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) that can effectively harvest biomechanical energy and sense multifunctional posture and movement have a wide range of applications in next-generation wearable and portable electronic devices. Hence, bulk production of fine yarns with high triboelectric output through a continuous manufacturing process is an urgent task. Here, an ultralight single-electrode triboelectric yarn (SETY) with helical hybridized nano-micro core–shell fiber bundles is fabricated by a facile and continuous electrospinning technology. The obtained SETY device exhibits ultralightness (0.33 mg cm–1), extra softness, and smaller size (350.66 μm in diameter) compared to those fabricated by conventional fabrication techniques. Based on such a textile-based TENG, high energy-harvesting performance (40.8 V, 0.705 μA cm–2, and 9.513 nC cm–2) was achieved by applying a 2.5 Hz mechanical drive of 5 N. Importantly, the triboelectric yarns can identify textile materials according to their different electron affinity energies. In addition, the triboelectric yarns are compatible with traditional textile technology and can be woven into a high-density plain fabric for harvesting biomechanical energy and are also competent for monitoring tiny signals from humans or insects.

A Machine‐Fabricated 3D Honeycomb‐Structured Flame‐Retardant Triboelectric Fabric for Fire Escape and Rescue

“…The output power can be computed by W = I 2 R , where I represents the output current through the external circuit while R represents the loading resistance. [ 29 ] The output power W reaches the largest value of 73.55 µW m −1 immediately once the external load resistance is around 1000 MΩ.…”

Towards Truly Wearable Systems: Optimizing and Scaling Up Wearable Triboelectric Nanogenerators

“…Considering their structure, fiber/yarn-related TENGs are divided into two sub-categories: core-shell and sandwiched structures. TENG developments at fiber/yarn stage allow for maximum control and modification capabilities of the energy generators ( Liu et al., 2019a , 2019b ; Ma et al., 2020 ; Ye et al., 2020a ; Yu et al., 2017 ); however, their handling and processing have been difficult due to small size and weak mechanical properties.…”

“…Reprinted from ref ( He et al., 2017 ) with permission, copyright©2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. (C) Development of a SETENG with silver yarn as the core and PVDF and PAN hybrid nanofibers as the shell, using electrospinning. Reprinted from ref ( Ma et al., 2020 ) with permission, Copyright©2020 American Chemical Society. (D) Schematic of silver-coated nylon yarn-wrapped PU fiber TENG.…”

“… (C) Development of a SETENG with silver yarn as the core and PVDF and PAN hybrid nanofibers as the shell, using electrospinning. Reprinted from ref ( Ma et al., 2020 ) with permission, Copyright©2020 American Chemical Society. …”

“…developed a triboelectric yarn using a silver yarn as the core. The shell was fabricated with PVDF/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) hybrid nanofibers via electrospinning ( Figure 5 C) ( Ma et al., 2020 ). The triboelectric yarn indicated low weight (0.33 mg/cm), softness, and low diameter (350.66 μm).…”