Performance enhancement of triboelectric nanogenerators using contact-separation mode in conjunction with the sliding mode and multifunctional application for motion monitoring

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), which can extensively harvest environmental mechanical energy, have long been restricted by their motion patterns, surface electric charges, and other factors. In this work, a TENG that cooperates with the vertical contact separation mode TENG (CS-TENG) and the lateral sliding mode TENG (LS-TENG) is proposed. This hybrid mode TENG can effectively improve the output power of the independent mode TENG. In the experiment, CS-TENG and LS-TENG are integrated to work together. In this way, the open circuit voltage of the hybrid mode TENG is determined by the CS-TENG, and the peak-to-peak open circuit voltage of the hybrid TENG can reach 1169 V. The unidirectional short-circuit current of CS-TENG is about 80 μA. The unidirectional short-circuit current of the LS-TENG is about 27 μA. But the unidirectional short-circuit current of the hybrid TENG can reach 187 μA. The self-powered human motion sensors based on CS-TENG were designed for detecting signals of finger bending, gait and somatic joint bending. It can clearly identify the motion signals of different parts, which could provide effective information for post-rehabilitation training of patients with limb injuries, as well as smart medical care.