Fabric‐Assisted MXene/Silicone Nanocomposite‐Based Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Self‐Powered Sensors and Wearable Electronics

Abstract

Surface modification of triboelectric negative layers is an essential factor for boosting the output performance of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). Herein, a novel scalable surface modification method is introduced using a fabric‐assisted micropatterning technique on a highly negative MXene/silicone nanocomposite surface (charge generating) with MXene layer (charge trapping) for self‐powered sensors and wearable electronics. The microstructured surface is fabricated directly from a fabric template requiring no surface‐active agent, high‐pressure equipment, or high vacuum. To boost the proposed double‐side‐contact TENG (DSC‐TENG) output performance, different parameters of the fabric textures are tested and optimized for the roughened microstructures, namely the MXene layer and relative humidity. Under optimal conditions, the fabricated DSC‐TENG improves the voltage and peak current density by factors of 9.8 and 20, respectively, regarding flat silicone. It exhibits a maximum peak power density of 55.47 W m−2 at load resistance of 0.18 MΩ, and a corresponding decrease in resistance by 75% using MXene content of 3 mg cm−2. Also, DSC‐TENG‐based smart home control of electrical appliances, theft protection, self‐powered electronic devices, password authentication, and human motion monitoring via smartphone for the IoT are demonstrated. The proposed method can be implemented for different types of polymers, thereby enabling the large‐scale fabrication of high‐performance TENGs in industrial applications.

Biodegradable, Super-Strong, and Conductive Cellulose Macrofibers for Fabric-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator

“…Conductive materials for the electrodes of fabric-based TENG can be mainly categorized into five types, including metals and its derivatives, carbonaceous fillers, conductive polymers (CPs), liquid electrode, and hybrid conductive fillers. For metals and metallic derivatives (such as Cu, Ag, Ni, Al, Au nanowires and nanoparticles, or stainlesssteel rods) [13][14][15][16][17][18], Dong et al utilized Ag conductive yarn as electrode and wrapped it with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and nylon66 (PA66) for knitting a stretchable and comfortable fabric-based TENG [19]. For carbonaceous fillers (such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene oxide (GO), carbon fiber) [20][21][22], researchers have twisted the CNTs coated cotton yarn and further coated it with PTFE to fabricate a fiber-based TENG, which can be integrated into a common cloth system and trigger a wireless body temperature sensor system [23].…”

Smart Textile Triboelectric Nanogenerators: Prospective Strategies for Improving Electricity Output Performance

“…The HCOENPs/BP mixed layer provides a charge storage layer to reduce the dissipation of triboelectric electrons to increase the electricity outputs. With a novel, scalable surface modification method of fabric-assisted micropatterning techniques, a highly negative MXene/silicone nanocomposite surface with 2D MXene as the charge trapping layer was adopted to boost the output performance of double-side-contact fabric-assisted TENG (Figure 8d) [120]. The obtained output voltage and current are appropriately 1.6 and 1.5 times higher than those of the sandpaper-assisted microstructures.…”

“…(d) A double-sidecontact fabric-assisted TENG by using 2D MXene as the charge trapping layer. Reproduced with the permission of[120], copyright 2021, Wiley-VCH. (e) Boosting the power and lowering the impedance of TENGs through manipulating the permittivity.…”

Stretchable Thermoelectric-Based Self-Powered Dual-Parameter Sensors with Decoupled Temperature and Strain Sensing

“…Wearable electronic devices have attracted increasing interest due to their advantages in flexibility, − stretchability, , energy saving, , and high sensitivity. , Wearable sensor systems integrated by wearable electronic devices are widely used to monitor physical signals generated by human activities in real time. − However, these systems often require frequent battery replacement or an external power supply and cannot work continuously in extreme environments such as vivo environments. Therefore, it is particularly important to develop a self-powered sensing system that can collect energy from the living environment or the human body instead of depending on an external power supply. − …”