Core–Shell and Helical-Structured Cylindrical Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Wearable Energy Harvesting

Abstract

Energy-harvesting technologies that generate continuous power from human movement by wearable devices have attracted increasing attention and demand. Flexible fibers or cylindrical triboelectric nanogenerators with a 1-dimensional structure have the advantage of being mass-producible. In this Article, we propose a core–shell and helical-structured cylindrical triboelectric nanogenerator (CCTENG) that can generate power by various deformations and human movements. Unlike conventional triboelectric nanogenerators that leverage limited motion, CCTENGs generate energy from various deformations, including compression and rubbing, and they have fewer environmental constraints. The fabricated CCTENGs generated a maximum 169 V and 18.9 μA, and we verified the potential for a newly structured CCTENG that enables self-powered generation-sensing applications from the harvested energy.