Nanogenerators for smart cities in the era of 5G and Internet of Things

5G has taken off at a brisk speed over the years, bringing significant benefits to the Internet of Things (IoT) devices and wireless sensor nodes. The launching of 5G technology provides an excellent opportunity for the faster development of smart cities. Nanogenerators (NGs) have been widely demonstrated as sustainable power sources and self-powered active sensors. The last 15 years of research on NGs have revealed that it can contribute to the digitalization of smart city services, such as localized renewable energy supplies, intelligent transportation, smart vehicles, and digital healthcare applications. The integration of novel NG technology in smart cities will solve problems pertinent to sustainable power sources for decentralized IoT devices and provide pathways for realizing self-powered active sensing systems. In this review, we will provide a comprehensive review of current research on NGs’ applications in different sectors of a smart city. More importantly, we will show how NGs can be a game changer in the development of smart cities under 5G services and how the usage of NGs can boost the convenience of city dwellers. Our aim is to draw more attention to NG applications in the digitalization of smart cities and provide a guideline for applying smart concepts in future urban planning.