Coaxial Triboelectric Nanogenerator and Supercapacitor Fiber-Based Self-Charging Power Fabric

• Published in: ACS applied materials & interfaces Vol. 10; no. 49; pp. 42356 - 42362
• Main Authors: Yang, Yanqin, Xie, Lingjie, Wen, Zhen, Chen, Chen, Chen, Xiaoping, Wei, Aiming, Cheng, Ping, Xie, Xinkai, Sun, Xuhui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 12.12.2018
• Subjects: coaxial fiber; triboelectric nanogenerator; self-charging power system; supercapacitor; wearable electronics
• ISSN: 1944-8244; 1944-8252
• DOI: 10.1021/acsami.8b15104

Although there has been rapid advancement in wearable electronics, challenges still remain in developing wearable and sustainable power sources with simple fabrication and low cost. In this work, we demonstrate a flexible coaxial fiber by fabricating a one-dimensional triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) outside and a supercapacitor (SC) inside, which can not only harvest mechanical energy but also store energy in the all-in-one fiber. In such a coaxial fiber, carbon fiber bundles are utilized as the electrode material for the TENG as well as the active and electrode material for the SC. Meanwhile, silicone rubber serves as the separator between the SC and TENG, as the triboelectric material for the TENG, and as the encapsulation material for the whole fiber as well. Moreover, both SC and TENG exhibit good performance and stability, which ensures their long-term use in daily life. Because of the flexibility and durability of the carbon fiber and silicone rubber, the proposed coaxial fibers show great flexibility, which could be further knitted as cloth for sustainably powering wearable electronic devices. This work presents a promising platform for wearable electronics as well as smart textiles.