A Highly Sensitive Triboelectric Vibration Sensor for Machinery Condition Monitoring

Abstract Vibration sensors are involved extensively in a variety of applications. Especially in the era of the Internet of Things, developing self‐powered vibration sensors has become a very meaningful yet challenging problem. This study investigates a highly sensitive self‐powered vibration sensor based on the triboelectric nanogenerator (VS‐TENG) for machinery condition monitoring. By introducing a stacked structure comprising foamed aluminum, and a fluorinated ethylene propylene film with gold‐plated electrode protected by two indium tin oxid layers, The VS‐TENG can detect the vibrations with frequencies ranging from 1 to 2000 Hz and can detect vibrations of low amplitude (approximately sub‐µm, by calculation). The output performance and characteristics of the TENG under various vibration frequencies, accelerations, and amplitudes are analyzed systematically. The VS‐TENG is successfully used to monitor the operating conditions of mechanical gear systems, reaching a recognition accuracy of 99.78%. Furthermore, it can also be utilized for vibration detection in other areas such as the air compressor, heat gun, hollow tile recognition, etc., which means a solid progress toward the practical applications of TENGs in self‐powered vibration detection.