With
the development of the internet of things (IoT) and 5th generation
communication technology, construction of smart cities is making a
great progress. However, the IoT system needs millions of sensing
nodes; therefore, it is rather challenging to power various sensors.
Here, we design an electrostatic force-based switch (EFS) that can
work as either an optical or an electrical switch. The EFS provides
a method to directly detect or control high-voltage electrical systems
with delay characteristics. Advantages of the EFS include self-contained
delay characteristics, ease of fabrication, low cost, and high stability,
especially when used in combination with the triboelectric nanogenerator
(TENG) to realize self-powered sensors. Based on the self-powered
sensor, a mechanical motion-sensing system is built with high sensitivity
and active response to the mechanical trigger. This study proposes
a multifunctional self-powered switch, which realizes a high-voltage
delay control system and can also combine with the TENG to expand
the application of self-powered smart sensing systems.