A human-skin inspired self-healing, anti-bacterial and high performance triboelectric nanogenerator for self-powered multifunctional electronic skin

Constructing micro/nano structures on frictional materials is a widely employed method for enhancing the output performance of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). However, the abundance of micro/nanostructured interfaces on self-healing materials tends to diminish quickly due to the rapid reformation of reversible chemical bonds under the synergistic effect of external force and their soft nature. To address this issue, we propose a heterogeneous interface coupling strategy to fabricate stabilized hierarchical wrinkle structures for self-healing TENGs (S-TENGs). In this innovative design, an ultra-thin ZnO nanowires (NWs)/self-healable PDMS (H-PDMS) heterogeneous interface is incorporated to prevent the self-healing process between the surface nanostructures, while ensuring the preservation of the self-healing performance of the H-PDMS matrix. Furthermore, these surface ZnO NWs provide numerous charge trapping sites, which generates a charge density of 130 μC/m2, higher than that of reported S-TENGs. Meanwhile, the recovery rate at room temperature can reach 97% and 99% for the electrical output and mechanical property, respectively. Furthermore, abundant antibacterial active sites on ZnO NWs endow the S-TENG excellent antibacterial performance for E. coli and S. au. These remarkable features position our S-TENG as a superior choice for multifunctional electronic skins, enabling the safe collection of biomechanical energy, tactile sensing, and human–machine interaction.