Triboelectric smart shoes for real time position detection

Nanogenerators that harvest ambient mechanical energy from the surrounding environment have received much attention due to their ability to act as sustainable power sources for small portable devices. In this study, a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is fabricated using tribonegative polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based nanocomposites comprising polyaniline (PANI) and its derivatives poly(o-anisidine) (POA), and poly(o-toluidine) (POT) as fillers to maximize the potential of tribonegative PDMS layer. Triboelectric properties of the PDMS composites were measured using copper foil as electrodes and PDMS/conducting polymer nanocomposite as the triboelectric material. The effect of various dopants such as (+) D camphor sulfonic acid (CSA), para-toluene sulfonic acid (p-TSA), acetic acid (AcOH), hydrochloric acid (HCl), and sulphuric acid (H2SO4), on TENG properties was studied and the CSA doped PANI incorporated composite shows the highest output among all. The PDMS/CSA doped PANI (5 wt%) exhibited the highest open circuit voltage and short circuit current density of 50.2 V and 16.25 mA/m2 respectively, in the contact separation mode with a power output of 280.37 mW/m2. Also, the thickness of the nanocomposite has a profound effect on the triboelectric output responses of the prepared TENG. The optimized TENG is used to fabricate a self-powered sensor device for real-time position monitoring of individuals by incorporating the TENG module in a shoe. The triboelectric smart shoes act as a potential candidate for monitoring the real-time position of the individual through the signals received in mobile phones, thereby ensuring safety.