Stretchable, Washable, and Ultrathin Triboelectric Nanogenerators as Skin‐Like Highly Sensitive Self‐Powered Haptic Sensors

TLDR

Flexible, sustainable wearable power sources face significant challenges amid the rapid growth of multifunctional wearable electronics. The authors report a stretchable, washable, ultrathin skin‑inspired triboelectric nanogenerator designed to harvest human motion energy and serve as a highly sensitive self‑powered haptic sensor. The SI‑TENG employs a stretchable composite electrode of silver nanowires embedded in thermoplastic polyurethane nanofiber networks, fabricated by synchronous electrospinning and electrospraying, yielding ≈800 % stretchability, ≈89 µm thickness, and ≈0.23 g weight. The device delivers an open‑circuit voltage of 95 V, short‑circuit current of 0.3 µA, and 6 mW m⁻² power density, and, when integrated with signal‑processing circuits, functions as a haptic sensor array for human‑machine interface and security applications.

Abstract

Abstract Accompanying the boom in multifunctional wearable electronics, flexible, sustainable, and wearable power sources are facing great challenges. Here, a stretchable, washable, and ultrathin skin‐inspired triboelectric nanogenerator (SI‐TENG) to harvest human motion energy and act as a highly sensitive self‐powered haptic sensor is reported. With the optimized material selections and structure design, the SI‐TENG is bestowed with some merits, such as stretchability ( ≈ 800%), ultrathin ( ≈ 89 µ m), and light‐weight ( ≈ 0.23 g), which conformally attach on human skin without disturbing its contact. A stretchable composite electrode, which is formed by homogenously intertwining silver nanowires (AgNWs) with thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) nanofiber networks, is fabricated through synchronous electrospinning of TPU and electrospraying of AgNWs. Based on the triboelectrification effect, the open‐circuit voltage, short‐circuit current, and power density of the SI‐TENG with a contact area of 2 × 2 cm 2 and an applied force of 8 N can reach 95 V, 0.3 µ A, and 6 mW m −2 , respectively. By integrating the signal‐processing circuits, the SI‐TENG with excellent energy harvesting and self‐powered sensing capability is demonstrated as a haptic sensor array to detect human actions. The SI‐TENG exhibits extensive applications in the fields of human–machine interface and security systems.