Integrated Piezo-Triboelectric Nanogenerators-Based Self-Powered Flexible Temperature and Pressure Sensor

• Published in: IEEE journal on flexible electronics Vol. 2; no. 2; pp. 84 - 91
• Main Authors: Min, Guanbo, Khandelwal, Gaurav, Dahiya, Abhishek Singh, Mulvihill, Daniel M., Dahiya, Ravinder
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01.03.2023
• Subjects: Electronic textile; Fabrics; Nanogenerators; piezoelectric nanogenerator (PENG); Plasma temperature; Plasmas; self-powered sensors; Surface treatment; temperature; Temperature measurement; Temperature sensors; triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG)
• ISSN: 2768-167X; 2768-167X
• DOI: 10.1109/JFLEX.2022.3225128

Efficient harvesting of ubiquitous ambient mechanical energy using various types of nanogenerators (NGs) has attracted considerable interest in recent years. Herein, we present a textile triboelectric NG (T-TENG) using polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and nylon-based counter-surfaces in fabric form (both fixed to conductive fabric electrodes). T-TENG performance is enhanced by exposing a PTFE film with argon (Ar) plasma. The output voltage of the plasma-treated devices increased by a factor of ~10, and their short-circuit current density increased by a factor of ~9 (compared to pristine nonplasma-treated devices). Additionally, we demonstrate that the fabricated T-TENG can be used as a self-powered temperature sensor, tested in the 25 °C-90 °C range. The T-TENG output voltage decreased linearly with increasing temperature exhibiting a sensitivity of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\boldsymbol {\sim }1 </tex-math></inline-formula>%/°C. Furthermore, we integrated a flexible piezoelectric NG (PENG) on top of the T-TENG to detect the contact forces. The PENG output is also used to compensate for the pressure-dependent output of TENG underneath and allows distinct temperature and pressure measurements. The excellent results observed here show the potential of T-TENGs for use as self-powered sensors in applications such as health monitoring, wearables, and interactive systems.