Tribotronics for Active Mechanosensation and Self‐Powered Microsystems

Tribotronics has attracted great attention as a new research field that encompasses the control and tuning of semiconductor transport by triboelectricity. Here, tribotronics is reviewed in terms of active mechanosensation and human–machine interfacing. As a fundamental unit, contact electrification field‐effect transistors are analyzed, in which the triboelectric potential can be used to control electrical transport in semiconductors. Several tribotronic functional devices have been developed for active control and information sensing, which has demonstrated triboelectricity‐controlled electronics and established active mechanosensation for the external environment. In addition, the universal triboelectric power management strategy and the triboelectric nanogenerator‐based constant sources are also reviewed, in which triboelectricity can be managed by electronics in the reverse action. With the implantation of triboelectric power management modules, the harvested triboelectricity by various kinds of human kinetic and environmental mechanical energy can be effectively managed as a power supply for self‐powered microsystems. In terms of the research prospects for interactions between triboelectricity and semiconductors, tribotronics is expected to demonstrate significant impact and potential applications in micro‐electro‐mechanical systems/nano‐electro‐mechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS), flexible electronics, robotics, wireless sensor network, and Internet of Things.     

Self-Healable Triboelectric Nanogenerators: Marriage between Self-Healing Polymer Chemistry and Triboelectric Devices

Based on the triboelectrification and electrostatic induction coupling, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) can convert mechanical energy into electrical energy, showing a promising potential in the fields of micro/nano energy and self-powered sensors applications. However, the devices are prone to malfunction due to fatigue and damage, limiting their development and applications. In this review, according to the working modes and operational malfunctions as well as the possible solutions, it is proposed that a robust TENG device can be constructed from three perspectives: self-healing friction layers, self-healing electrodes, and self-healing whole devices. Based on the structure, suitable environment, and self-healing materials, the design ideas and fabrication approaches of self-healing TENGs in recent years are summarized in detail. Finally, the development of self-healing TENGs in energy harvesting and self-powered sensors is outlined. It is the wish to provide insights and guidance for the application design of self-healing TENGs in the future.     

Stretchable Energy‐Harvesting Tactile Interactive Interface with Liquid‐Metal‐Nanoparticle‐Based Electrodes

Energy‐harvesting electronic skin (E‐skin) is highly promising for sustainable and self‐powered interactive systems, wearable human health monitors, and intelligent robotics. Flexible/stretchable electrodes and robust energy‐harvesting components are critical in constructing soft, wearable, and energy‐autonomous E‐skin systems. A stretchable energy‐harvesting tactile interactive interface is demonstrated using liquid metal nanoparticles (LM‐NPs)‐based electrodes. This stretchable energy‐harvesting tactile interface relies on triboelectric nanogenerator composed of a galinstan LM‐NP‐based stretchable electrode and patterned elastic polymer friction and encapsulation layer. It provides stable and high open‐circuit voltage (268 V), short‐circuit current (12.06 µA), and transferred charges (103.59 nC), which are sufficient to drive commercial portable electronics. As a self‐powered tactile sensor, it presents satisfactory and repeatable sensitivity of 2.52 V·kPa^?1 and is capable of working as a touch interactive keyboard. The demonstrated stretchable and robust energy‐harvesting E‐skin using LM‐NP‐based electrodes is of great significance in sustainable human–machine interactive system, intelligent robotic skin, security tactile switches, etc.     

Versatile Ion-Gel Fibrous Membrane for Energy-Harvesting Iontronic Skin

Developing versatile and high sensitivity sensors is beneficial for promoting flexible electronic devices and human-machine interactive systems. Researchers are working on the exploration of various active sensing materials toward broad detection, multifunction, and low-power consumption. Here, a versatile ion-gel fibrous membrane is presented by electrospinning technology and utilized to construct capacitive sensors and triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). The iontronic capacitive sensor exhibits inherently favorable sensitivity and repeatability, which retains long-term stability after 5000 cycles. The capacitive sensor can also detect a clear pulse waveform at the human wrist and enable the mapping of pressure distribution by a capacitive sensory matrix. For the iontronic TENG, the maximum peak power is 54.56 µW and can be used to power commercial electronics. In addition, the prepared iontronic TENG array can achieve interactive, rapidly responsive, and accurate dynamic monitoring, which broadens the exploration to direct and effective sensory devices. The versatile ion-gel fibrous membrane is promising to provide an outstanding approach for physiological detection, biomechanical energy harvesting, human-machine interaction, and self-powered monitoring systems.     

3D Printing-Directed Synergistic Design of High-Performance Zinc-Ion Hybrid Capacitors and Nanogenerators for All-In-One Self-Powered Energy Wristband

Advanced wearable self-powered energy systems that simultaneously achieve energy harvesting and energy storage offer exciting opportunities for flexible electronics, information communication, and even intelligent environmental monitoring. However, building and integrating synergistic energy storage from energy harvester unit into a single power source is highly challenging. Herein, a unique 3D printing-directed synergistic design of high-performance zinc-ion hybrid capacitors (ZIHCs) and triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) is proposed for the all-in-one self-powered wearable energy wristband. With advanced ink design, high-performance flexible ZIHCs are built up as the excellent energy storage unit with remarkable electrochemical behaviors and synergistic matching from TENGs. An exceptional device capacitance of 239.0 mF cm⁻², moderate potential window, high-rate capability, robust cycling stability, and excellent flexibility are achieved. Intrinsic charge storage process is also revealed, further demonstrating the outstanding electrochemical stability of the in-plane flexible ZIHCs. Moreover, using 3D printing-directed synergistic design, an advanced all-in-one self-powered energy wristband is developed, where an efficient harvesting of body vibration/movement energy and a reliable storage of harvested energy are simultaneously realized, representing a substantial step toward future practical applications in portable and wearable electronics.     

Stretchable Electrode Based on Laterally Combed Carbon Nanotubes for Wearable Energy Harvesting and Storage Devices

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are a promising material for use as a flexible electrode in wearable energy devices due to their electrical conductivity, soft mechanical properties, electrochemical activity, and large surface area. However, their electrical resistance is higher than that of metals, and deformations such as stretching can lead to deterioration of electrical performances. To address these issues, here a novel stretchable electrode based on laterally combed CNT networks is presented. The increased percolation between combed CNTs provides a high electrical conductivity even under mechanical deformations. Additional nickel electroplating and serpentine electrode designs increase conductivity and deformability further. The resulting stretchable electrode exhibits an excellent sheet resistance, which is comparable to conventional metal film electrodes. The resistance change is minimal even when stretched by ≈100%. Such high conductivity and deformability in addition to intrinsic electrochemically active property of CNTs enable high performance stretchable energy harvesting (wireless charging coil and triboelectric generator) and storage (lithium ion battery and supercapacitor) devices. Monolithic integration of these devices forms a wearable energy supply system, successfully demonstrating its potential as a novel soft power supply module for wearable electronics.     

Wearable Self-Powered Electrochemical Devices for Continuous Health Management

The wearable revolution is already present in society through numerous gadgets. However, the contest remains in fully deployable wearable (bio)chemical sensing. Its use is constrained by the energy consumption which is provided by miniaturized batteries, limiting the autonomy of the device. Hence, the combination of materials and engineering efforts to develop sustainable energy management is paramount in the next generation of wearable self-powered electrochemical devices (WeSPEDs). In this direction, this review highlights for the first time the incorporation of innovative energy harvesting technologies with top-notch wearable self-powered sensors and low-powered electrochemical sensors toward battery-free and self-sustainable devices for health and wellbeing management. First, current elements such as wearable designs, electrochemical sensors, energy harvesters and storage, and user interfaces that conform WeSPEDs are depicted. Importantly, the bottlenecks in the development of WeSPEDs from an analytical perspective, product side, and power needs are carefully addressed. Subsequently, energy harvesting opportunities to power wearable electrochemical sensors are discussed. Finally, key findings that will enable the next generation of wearable devices are proposed. Overall, this review aims to bring new strategies for an energy-balanced deployment of WeSPEDs for successful monitoring of (bio)chemical parameters of the body toward personalized, predictive, and importantly, preventive healthcare.     

Cutting Edge Use of Conductive Patterns in Nanocellulose-Based Green Electronics

Green electronics made from degradable materials have recently attracted special attention, because electronic waste (e-waste) represents a serious threat to the environment and to human health worldwide. Among the novel materials used for sustainable technologies, nanocelluloses containing at least 1D in the nanoscale range (1–100 nm) have been widely exploited for various industrial applications owing to their inherent properties, such as biodegradability, mechanical strength, thermal stability, and optical transparency. This review highlights recent advances in research on the development of patterns for conductive material on nanocellulose substrates for use in high-performance green electronics. The advantages of nanocellulose substrates compared to conventional paper substrates for advanced green electronics are discussed. Importantly, this review emphasizes various fabrication strategies for producing conductive patterns on different types of nanocellulose-based substrates, such as cellulose nanofiber (CNF), (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl)oxyl(TEMPO)-oxidized CNF, regenerated cellulose, and bacterial cellulose. In the latter part of this review, emerging engineering applications for green electronics such as circuits, transistors/antennas, sensors, energy storage systems, and electrochromic devices are further discussed.     

An Autonomous Soft Actuator with Light‐Driven Self‐Sustained Wavelike Oscillation for Phototactic Self‐Locomotion and Power Generation

Mimicking the intelligence of biological organisms in artificial systems to design smart actuators that act autonomously in response to constant environmental stimuli is crucial to the construction of intelligent biomimetic robots and devices, but remains a great challenge. Here, a light‐driven autonomous carbon‐nanotube‐based bimorph actuator is developed through an elaborate structural design. This curled droplet‐shaped actuator can be simply driven by constant white light irradiation, self‐propelled by a light‐mechanical negative feedback loop created by light‐driven actuation, time delay in the photothermal response along the actuator, and good elasticity from the curled structure, performing a continuously self‐oscillating motion in a wavelike fashion, which mimics the human sit‐up motion. Moreover, this autonomous self‐oscillating motion can be further tuned by controlling the intensity and direction of the incident light. The autonomous actuator with continuous wavelike oscillating motion shows immense potential in light‐driven biomimetic soft robots and optical‐energy‐harvesting devices. Furthermore, a self‐locomotive artificial snake with phototaxis is constructed, which autonomously and continuously crawls toward the light source in a wave‐propagating manner under constant light irradiation. This snake can be placed on a substrate made of triboelectric materials to realize continuous electric output when exposed to constant light illumination.     

Triboelectric Touch‐Free Screen Sensor for Noncontact Gesture Recognizing

An intelligent human–machine interface (HMI) is a crucial medium for exchanging information between people and electronics. As one of the most important HMI devices, touch screen sensors are widely applied in personal electronics in daily life. However, as the most commonly used touch screen sensor, capacitive sensors can only detect limited kinds of gestures such as touching and sliding. Here, a triboelectric touch‐free screen sensor (TSS) is reported for recognizing diverse gestures in a noncontact operating mode by utilizing the charges naturally carried on the human body. Compared with conventional capacitive sensors, the TSS is capable of detecting various gestures such as the drop and lift of finger with different speeds, making a fist, opening palm, and flipping palm with different directions. Based on the TSS, an intelligent noncontact screen control system is further developed, which is used to unlock the smartphone interface by the noncontact operating mode. This research for the first time proposes the concept that taking the human body itself to participate in triboelectric self‐powered noncontact sensing and provides a touch‐free design concept to develop the next generation of screen sensors. It can alter the usual way that people operating their personal electronics.     

Textile‐Based Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Self‐Powered Wearable Electronics

Wearable smart electronic devices based on wireless systems use batteries as a power source. However, recent miniaturization and various functions have increased energy consumption, resulting in problems such as reduction of use time and frequent charging. These factors hinder the development of wearable electronic devices. In order to solve this energy problem, research studies on triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are conducted based on the coupling of contact‐electrification and electrostatic induction effects for harvesting the vast amounts of biomechanical energy generated from wearer movement. The development of TENGs that use a variety of structures and materials based on the textile platform is reviewed, including the basic components of fibers, yarns, and fabrics made using various weaving and knitting techniques. These textile‐based TENGs are lightweight, flexible, highly stretchable, and wearable, so that they can effectively harvest biomechanical energy without interference with human motion, and can be used as activity sensors to monitor human motion. Also, the main application of wearable self‐powered systems is demonstrated and the directions of future development of textile‐based TENG for harvesting biomechanical energy presented.     

Wearable and Implantable Triboelectric Nanogenerators

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are a promising technology to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy based on coupled triboelectrification and electrostatic induction. With the rapid development of functional materials and manufacturing techniques, wearable and implantable TENGs have evolved into playing important roles in clinic and daily life from in vitro to in vivo. These flexible and light membrane‐like devices have the potential to be a new power supply or sensor element, to meet the special requirements for portable electronics, promoting innovation in electronic devices. In this review, the recent advances in wearable and implantable TENGs as sustainable power sources or self‐powered sensors are reviewed. In addition, the remaining challenges and future possible improvements of wearable and implantable TENG‐based self‐powered systems are discussed.     

Bioinspired Self-healing Soft Electronics

Inspired by nature, various self-healing materials that can recover their physical properties after external damage have been developed. Recently, self-healing materials have been widely used in electronic devices for improving durability and protecting the devices from failure during operation. Moreover, self-healing materials can integrate many other intriguing properties of biological systems, such as stretchability, mechanical toughness, adhesion, and structural coloration, providing additional fascinating experiences. All of these inspirations have attracted extensive research on bioinspired self-healing soft electronics. This review presents a detailed discussion on bioinspired self-healing soft electronics. Firstly, two main healing mechanisms are introduced. Then, four categories of self-healing materials in soft electronics, including insulators, semiconductors, electronic conductors, and ionic conductors, are reviewed, and their functions, working principles, and applications are summarized. Finally, human-inspired self-healing materials and animal-inspired self-healing materials as well as their applications, such as organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), pressure sensors, strain sensors, chemical sensors, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), and soft actuators, are introduced. This cutting-edge and promising field is believed to stimulate more excellent cross-discipline works in material science, flexible electronics, and novel sensors, accelerating the development of applications in human motion monitoring, environmental sensing, information transmission, etc.     

风能收集型摩擦纳米发电机研究进展

有效地将自然界中的能量转换为电能对于构建环境友好型社会具有重要意义。摩擦纳米发电机(Triboelectric Nanogenerator,TENG)是一种新型的机械能-电能转换装置,可实现将微弱机械能高效地转换为电能。在自然界众多的机械能中,风能因其分布广和储存量大而受到广泛关注。近年来,将风能高效率地转换为电能是TENG技术的研发重点之一。研究人员对此展开了细致的研究工作,获得大量研究进展。一般说来,风能收集型TENG的研究内容主要包括器件结构优化、摩擦起电材料的物理与化学改性以及电源管理电路设计优化。针对这些研究内容,详细介绍了近年来TENG在收集风能方面的研究进展,剖析存在的问题,并对其未来的应用和发展进行了展望。     

Powering Implantable and Ingestible Electronics

Implantable and ingestible biomedical electronic devices can be useful tools for detecting physiological and pathophysiological signals, and providing treatments that cannot be done externally. However, one major challenge in the development of these devices is the limited lifetime of their power sources. The state-of-the-art of powering technologies for implantable and ingestible electronics is reviewed here. The structure and power requirements of implantable and ingestible biomedical electronics are described to guide the development of powering technologies. These powering technologies include novel batteries that can be used as both power sources and for energy storage, devices that can harvest energy from the human body, and devices that can receive and operate with energy transferred from exogenous sources. Furthermore, potential sources of mechanical, chemical, and electromagnetic energy present around common target locations of implantable and ingestible electronics are thoroughly analyzed; energy harvesting and transfer methods befitting each energy source are also discussed. Developing power sources that are safe, compact, and have high volumetric energy densities is essential for realizing long-term in-body biomedical electronics and for enabling a new era of personalized healthcare.     

Multifunctional and Physically Transient Supercapacitors,Triboelectric Nanogenerators,and Capacitive Sensors

Electronic waste (e-waste) grows in parallel with the increasing need for consumer electronics. This, unfortunately, is leading to pollution and massive ecological problems worldwide. A solution to this problem is the use of transient electronics. While transiency of a few components such as transistors and batteries have been proposed already, it is crucial to have all components in electronic devices to be transient. Therefore, the transiency of more electronic components should be demonstrated to alleviate the e-waste problem. Herein, multifunctional nanocomposite electrodes are fabricated using poly(vinyl alcohol), carbon black, and activated carbon. These simple electrodes are then used to fabricate physically transient supercapacitors, triboelectric nanogenerators, and capacitive sensors. Transient supercapacitors are used numerous times with excellent supercapacitive behavior before being discarded, which show promise as an energy storage component for transient systems. The fabricated transient triboelectric nanogenerators are used to harvest mechanical energy, eliminated the need for an external power supply, paving the way to self-powered devices, such as a touchpad as demonstrated herein. The fabricated transient capacitive sensors, on the other hand, have shown long linear sensitivities and offered waste-free monitoring of physiological signals and body motions.     

Multifunctional Mechanical Metamaterials with Embedded Triboelectric Nanogenerators

The flexibility of planar triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) enables them to be embedded into structures with complex geometries and to conform with any deformation of these structures. In return, the embedded TENGs function as either strain‐sensitive active sensors or energy harvesters while negligibly affecting the structure's original mechanical properties. This advantage inspires a new class of multifunctional materials where compliant TENGs are distributed into local operational units of mechanical metamaterial, dubbed TENG‐embedded mechanical metamaterials. This new class of metamaterial inherits the advantages of a traditional mechanical metamaterial, in that the deformation of the internal topology of material enables unusual mechanical properties. The concept is illustrated with experimental investigations and finite element simulations of prototypes based on two exemplar metamaterial geometries where functions of self‐powered sensing, energy harvesting, as well as the designated mechanical behavior are investigated. This work provides a new framework in producing multifunctional triboelectric devices.     

Stretchable and Shape-Adaptable Triboelectric Nanogenerator Based on Biocompatible Liquid Electrolyte for Biomechanical Energy Harvesting and Wearable Human–Machine Interaction

The significant demand of sustainable power sources has been triggered by the development of wearable electronics (e.g., electronic skin, human health monitors, and intelligent robotics). However, tensile strain limitation and low conformability of existing power sources cannot match their development. Herein, a stretchable and shape-adaptable liquid-based single-electrode triboelectric nanogenerator (LS-TENG) based on potassium iodide and glycerol (KI-Gly) liquid electrolyte as work electrode is developed for harvesting human motion energy to power wearable electronics. The LS-TENG demonstrates high output performances (open-circuit voltage of 300 V, short-circuit current density of 17.5 mA m^–2, and maximum output power of 2.0 W m^–2) and maintains the stable output performances without deterioration under 250% tension stretching and after 10 000 cycles of repeated contact-separation motion. Moreover, the LS-TENG can harvest biomechanical energy, including arm shaking, human walking, and hand tapping, to power commercial electronics without extra power sources. The LS-TENG attached on different joints of body enables to work as self-powered human motion monitor. Furthermore, a flexible touch panel based on the LS-TENG combined with a microcontroller is explored for human–machine interactions. Consequently, the stretchable and shape-adaptable LS-TENG based on KI-Gly electrolyte would act as an exciting platform for biomechanical energy harvesting and wearable human–machine interaction.     

Curved Architected Triboelectric Metamaterials: Auxeticity-Enabled Enhanced Figure-of-Merit

Triboelectric generators are integrated into curved architected materials to realize triboelectric metamaterials that simultaneously harvest electricity from wasted mechanical energy and perform mechanical energy absorption. Novel triboelectric mechanical metamaterials (TMMs) of distance-changing, angle-changing, and mixed modes are designed, fabricated, and tested under a cyclic compressive load. The open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current of lightweight TMMs are found to be as high as 40 V and 10 nA. The introduced TMMs can effectively harvest energy under loadings from two distinctive directions. A theoretical model for predicting the energy harvesting properties of TMMs is developed, and the role of auxeticity on the energy harvesting figure-of-merit (FOM_es) is elicited. The introduced TMMs exhibit enhanced FOM_es enabled by a decrease in their negative Poisson's ratio and an increase in their resilience. The FOM_es of curved architected TMMs surpasses by more than 16 times the FOM_es of triboelectric materials with conventional architectures (i.e., triangular, quadrilateral, and hexagonal cell topologies). An intelligent skateboard with integrated TMMs is fabricated as a proof of concept to demonstrate motion sensing, shock-absorbing, and energy harvesting functionalities of multimodal triboelectric metamaterials. The introduced design strategy for triboelectric metamaterials unlocks their applications in self-powered and self-monitoring sports equipment, smart soft robots, and large-scale energy harvesters.