Development of Portable Self-Powered Disinfection Systems Based on Triboelectric and Thermoelectric Effects

• Published in: Meeting abstracts (Electrochemical Society) Vol. MA2018-01; no. 25; p. 1503
• Main Authors: Chiu, Che Min, Lin, Zong-Hong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 13.04.2018
• ISSN: 2151-2043; 2151-2035
• DOI: 10.1149/MA2018-01/25/1503

Pathogenic bacteria that give rise to infection remain a major health concern over the past several decades. In this study, we proposed a concept of self-powered active disinfection system for wearing clothes. The system was mainly composed of a power generator to convert either biomechanical energy or thermal energy into electricity, and conductive fabrics as electrodes to build a wearable disinfection cell. Based on different power sources, we develop two types of self-powered antibacterial fabrics. For the use of biomechanical energy as a power supply, we applied triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) to effectively harvest energy from human motions; for converting thermal energy into electricity, a Te-Ag 2 Te hybrid thermoelectric nanogenerator was used. The working principle of the system was based on hybrid effects of H 2 O 2 production and electroporation, showing good disinfection effect toward Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). In addition, we also demonstrated the presence of one-dimensional (1D) Te nanowires on fabrics would increase the strength of the local electric field and enhanced the system disinfection performance. To conclude, the self-powered active disinfection system behaves as an ideal candidate to combat with pathogenic bacteria in biomedical and environmental applications.