A self-powered triboelectric sensor for wide-range pressure detection in wearable application

Abstract

This paper reports the structural design, fabrication, and experimental validation of a self-powered triboelectric sensor for wide-range pressure detection based on as-fabricated micro-structured conductive elastomer composite. To design a biocompatible Triboelectric Nanogenerator (TENG) for pressure sensing, micro-structured Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and Multiwall Carbon Nano Tube MWCNT/PDMS films were fabricated through sandpaper template based inexpensive fabrication process. MWCNTs has been doped into PDMS to tune the internal resistance of the TENG and to optimize its output power. A range of forces was applied on the device and corresponding performances were analyzed to calibrate the device as wide-range pressure sensor. Our as-fabricated prototype has wide range of mechanical force sensitivity starting from 2N to 80N and it works at higher forces as well, resulting in output peak-to-peak voltages and currents of 1∼17V and 10∼80nA, respectively.