Flexible single-strand fiber-based woven-structured triboelectric nanogenerator for self-powered electronics

Abstract

Textile or woven-structured triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) convert the mechanical energy generated from human motion into electrical energy and they can be used as efficient power sources for wearable and portable devices. However, the existing weaving-based woven-structured TENGs require multiple strands of fibers and have limited stretchability. In this paper, we propose highly stretchable and flexible single-strand fiber-based woven-structured TENGs (FW-TENGs). The proposed FW-TENGs can generate ∼34.4 µW/cm2 power from the continuous contact and separation from skin and demonstrate durability and potential for application in electronic devices. We successfully integrated the proposed FW-TENG into a shoe and harvested the mechanical energy generated from human motion. The FW-TENG is expected to find use in various applications such as e-textiles and smart clothing because it can be manufactured on a large scale.