Self-Powered Sensing and Wireless Communication Synergic Systems Enabled by Triboelectric Nanogenerators

Abstract

With the rapid advancement of the Internet of Things (IoT) era, the demand for wireless sensing and communication is increasingly prominent. Tens of thousands of sensing and communication nodes have presented new challenges to distributed energy. As a green energy harvesting technology, the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), with its outstanding characteristics of simple configuration, low cost, and high compatibility, demonstrates significant advantages in self-powered sensing systems and great application potential in the fields of human–machine interaction and wearable devices in the IoT era. More importantly, the electric displacement field and modulated electromagnetic waves that TENG triggers have opened a new paradigm for self-powered wireless communication, making up for the disadvantages of power supply by traditional distributed power sources. This review comprehensively discusses the latest scientific and technological progress in wireless communication technology prompted by TENG and further discusses its potential applications in various promising fields. Finally, a summary and outlook of TENG-based self-powered sensing and wireless communication synergic systems are presented, aiming to stimulate future innovation in the field and accelerating the paradigm shift to a fully self-powered IoT era.