Triboelectric Generator and Integrated Energy Devices for Wearable Electronics

초록

A triboelectric generator (TEG) is one of the promising options for an energy harvesting device that can be used with wearable electronics. Compared to other wearable power generators, TEGs are sensitive to humidity, exposed to mechanical damage by friction, and discontinuous in power generation. Meanwhile, its fabrication is simple and cost-effective and thereby suitable for large area wearable systems. Conventional type of TEG utilized contact/release type friction and also horizontal movements and showed high performance to convert mechanical energy to electricity. However, a new type of TEG, which is both not reliant on air gaps and flexible, is still needed to utilize horizontal friction as an energy source in wearable electronics. We therefore herein present a wearable integrated energy device, consisting of TEGs combined with SCs, which can be utilized either as an activity monitor or as power supply for other wearable sensors. A wearable fabric-based integrated power supply system that generates the energy triboelectrically using human activities and stores the generated energy in the integrated supercapacitor is developed. This system can be utilized as either a self-powered activity monitor or as a power supply for external wearable sensors. These demonstrations give new insights for the research of wearable electronics.