Flexible Arc-Shaped Triboelectric Nanogenerator for All Directions and Highly Efficient Biomechanical Energy Harvesting and Human Motion Monitoring

As an environmentally friendly and renewable energy source, triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) offers a fresh solution to the energy scarcity problem. However, the conventional three-dimensional (3D) TENG, which exhibits heavy angular dependence in energy harvesting, struggles to efficiently capture complex biological kinetic energy in practical applications. This study addresses this challenge by developing a novel flexible arc-shaped triboelectric nanogenerator (F-TENG). In comparison with traditional 3D flexible-based TENG, this generator notably minimizes the angular dependence on motion direction. Particularly for non-vertical mechanical energy harvesting, F-TENG can enhance collection efficiency by 35.5 %. Experimental results demonstrate that the open-circuit voltage and current of F-TENG textiles are 3 times and 2.6 times higher, respectively than those of conventional 3D flexible-based TENG. Its accuracy in detecting and identifying complex motions reaches 86.8 %, marking a 37.8 % improvement over traditional 3D-TENG. This study presents a promising perspective on the structural design of all directions and highly efficient biomechanical energy harvesting and its application in the field of intelligent sensing.