Transforming Medical Plastic Waste into High-Performance Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Sustainable Energy, Health Monitoring, and Sensing Applications

Abstract

This paper discusses the environmental problems posed by medical plastic waste produced in healthcare facilities and explores a suitable way to reutilize the waste through triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) device technology. Remarkably, the study investigates the potential of medical waste saline bottles to create energy-harvesting, health-monitoring devices and tactile, humidity-sensing applications. Saline bottle sheets are used as triboelectric material to fabricate a TENG in vertical contact separation (VCS) and single electrode (SE) modes. The VCS-TENG produced a power density of 8.78 W/m2 and could power various devices, including 420 red LEDs and portable electronic devices. Sleep monitoring experiments were performed by using an implanted TENG inside the pillow. The SE mode of TENG produced a power density of 1.46 W/m2 and was demonstrated for tactile sensing applications. The present work suggested using medical waste to make health monitoring, tactile sensing, humidity sensing, and energy-harvesting devices and possible applications in touch sensors for various security applications, human–machine interfaces, and IoTs. The proposed idea of using medical waste for TENG fabrication can be further extended to other nontoxic waste plastic generated in the medical field.

Phosphor-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Mechanical Energy Harvesting and Self-Powered Systems

“…The TENG performance increased as the area of the device increased, as expected. The effective contact area available for contact electrification increases as the area of the frictional increases, resulting in higher performance of TENG. , Furthermore, the optimal performance of the TENG devices was achieved with a distance of 10 mm between the friction layers and an applied force frequency of 3 Hz. , …”

“…The effective contact area available for contact electrification increases as the area of the frictional increases, resulting in higher performance of TENG. 54,55 Furthermore, the optimal performance of the TENG devices was achieved with a distance of 10 mm between the friction layers and an applied force frequency of 3 Hz. 56,57 The stability and durability of the TENG device were evaluated through 4000 test cycles using an in-housedeveloped linear motor.…”

Innovative triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) design utilizing a stress ball for energy harvesting, wellness, and safety applications

“…It works through the triboelectric effect and electrostatic induction and has potential applications in harvesting mechanical [4,5], wind [6], tidal [7], and rainwater energy [8]. TENG technology is used in various fields, such as self-powered electronic devices, wearable electronics [9,10], self-powered sensors [11][12][13], health monitoring [14,15], and human-machine interaction [16]. Compared to conventional energy sources such as solar, hydro, thermal, wind energy sources, and fossil fuels, TENG is a green energy source that does not harm the environment and can produce high power output within low frequencies.…”

Pyroelectric based energy harvesting devices: hybrid structures and applications

“…14 Popular energy scavenging technologies such as piezoelectric, triboelectric, pyroelectric, magneto-electric, and photovoltaic energy harvesting are considered sustainable power sources. [15][16][17][18][19][20][21] Pyroelectric energy harvesting provides a sustainable and effective method of generating power from various environmental thermal systems. 22,23 The pyroelectric effect, in which some materials create an electric charge when subjected to temperature changes, has several uses, including renewable energy, smart sensors, and wireless electronics.…”

“…14 Popular energy scavenging technologies such as piezoelectric, triboelectric, pyroelectric, magneto-electric, and photovoltaic energy harvesting are considered sustainable power sources. 15–21…”