Multifunctional Monitoring System Based on BaTiO3@CMC Aerogel-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator

In recent years, self-power sensing systems based on triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have been extensively studied. However, pure polymer friction materials are not satisfactory in terms of their triboelectric properties and cannot meet the needs of high-performance TENGs. We have improved the performance of a polymer electrode-based TENG by increasing the specific surface area of the material as well as the dielectric constant of the triboelectric layer. Benefitting from the enhanced dielectric constant engineering and high surface area engineering, the BaTiO3@CMC-based TENG exhibits excellent output performance which is 3 times higher than that of a pure CMC-based TENG. As expected, the obtained self-powered TENG can be used to monitor the wind speed with a high sensitivity of 1.97 V/(m s−1). In addition, the obtained sensor system can accurately map the contact position and touch trajectory of the object when assembling the TENG with a 4 × 4 array on an acrylic substrate. This work will provide basic insights into improving the performance of TENGs and widen their applications in the field of sensing.