Flexible Hybrid Nanogenerator for Self‐Powered Weather and Healthcare Monitoring Sensor

Abstract

The reliability of energy supplies is required for sensing devices to collect data continuously in long-term monitoring. [7] Rechargeable batteries are unable to meet the sustainable energy demand due to their inherent defects of limited working time period. Furthermore, bulky and rigid power supply devices are inappropriate for portable and wearable electronics that require lightness and flexibility. [8] The self-powered sensors based on energy harvesting technology are an attractive alternative for powering these portable and wearable electronic devices. [9][10] The energy harvesting is the conversion of ambient energy into electrical energy. Due to the cost-effectiveness and high output characteristics, solar cells that convert solar energy into electricity have become the most widely used energy harvesting devices. However, on cloudy, rainy days, or at night, the supply of solar energy is severely reduced. Moreover, the contaminants on the surface of the solar cell can degrade the energy conversion efficiency of a solar cell. [11] To address these issues, solar cells can be integrated with other suitable energy harvesters to sustainably generate electricity under various environmental conditions.The mechanical energy from rain drops, wind flowing, or the human body can be great energy resources since these energies are eco-friendly and widely distributed in the living environment. The triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) and piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENGs) can harvest these energy resources. The TENGs are based on the coupling of contact electrification and electrostatic induction. [12][13] In earlier research, the water demonstrated to be one of the materials to generate triboelectricity and the contact-electrification on the solid/liquid interfaces was also studied. [14] On the other hand, the PENGs can generate electrical power under a tiny deformation. [15] The TENGs and PENGs are easy to be integrated with other energy harvesters and show the advantages of low cost and small volume. [9,15] Thus, many researchers have published papers about hybridization of the solar cells-TENGs or the solar cells-PENGs. [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] To sustainably generate energy from various energy sources, the solar cells were integrated with other types of energy harvesters, such as triboelectric wind energy harvesters or wearable triboelectric human-body energy harvesters. [25][26] Particularly, the tremendous efforts have been Nowadays, people can receive several types of information from portable and wearable devices. However, the limited working time period, rigid characteristic, and bulky size of the conventional power sources need to be improved for rocketing the compatibility with portable and wearable devices. In this paper, a flexible hybrid nanogenerator (FHNG) is presented by combining a solar cell, a transparent triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), and a piezoelectric nanogenerator (PENG). The FHNG can sustainably collect energy from various energy sources. The FHNG can act as a self-powered wea...

Recent Advances in Self-powered Sensors Based on Nanogenerators: From Material and Structural Design to Cutting-Edge Sensing Applications

“…As Figure 19B shows, Lee et al proposed a novel self-powered energy system, named FHNG, which integrated a solar cell, a transparent TENG based on FEP thin films, and a flexible PENG based on CNT/ BaTiO 3 nanocomposites. 64 The FHNG could generate electricity by collecting and detecting raindrops, wind, and sunlight, making it a very practical weather monitoring device. In addition, the FHNG could also be attached to the human body to enable its use as a wearable self-powered medical monitoring device that would generate electricity by sensing health information such as human movement, arterial pulse rate, and respiratory rate.…”

Recent Progress of Nanogenerators for Green Energy Harvesting: Performance, Applications, and Challenges

“…In comparison to individual nanogenerators, this nanogenerator type can provide high and efficient power density [ 95 ]. Recent research has led to the development of hybrid nanogenerators based on piezoelectric–pyroelectric [ 96 , 97 , 98 ], triboelectric–piezoelectric [ 31 , 99 , 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 , 115 , 116 , 117 ], electromagnetic–triboelectric [ 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 , 122 , 123 , 124 , 125 , 126 , 127 , 128 , 129 , 130 , 131 , 132 ], triboelectric–piezoelectric–pyroelectric [ 133 , 134 , 135 , 136 ], triboelectric–piezoelectric–electromagnetic [ 137 , 138 , 139 , ...…”

An Experimental Study on Complete Droplet Rebound from Soft Surfaces: Critical Weber Numbers, Maximum Spreading, and Contact Time

“…It has significant implications for various industries, including inkjet printing, , spray cooling, designs of anti-icing surfaces, − crop cultivation, virus droplet propagation, , 3D-printing of composites, , and so on. Liquid droplet impacting a solid but soft surface is more frequently seen in the field of wearable devices to avoid rain and snow adhesion, flexible electronic devices to protect against raindrop impact erosion, − raindrop impact flexible thin film power generation, and other fields have a wide range of applications.…”