Triboelectric nanogenerator/supercapacitor in-one self-powered textile based on PTFE yarn wrapped PDMS/MnO2NW hybrid elastomer

Triboelectric nanogenerator/supercapacitor (TENG-SC) is believed to have great potential for wearable/portable bio-motion energy harvesting/storage electronics, but many TENGs could rarely be satisfactory to wearable electronics because of their poor wearability and complex configurations. Herein, a round-tripping-knitting strategy is devised to directly knit flexible PTFE yarn closing around polydimethylsiloxane/MnO2 nanowire (PDMS/MnO2NW)-coated conductive carbon cloth yarns (CCT@PDMS/MnO2NW) that can be used as wearable TENG textile to harvest bio-motion energy. Superior power generation performance was obtained by modulating the dielectric permittivity of PDMS/MnO2NW elastomer based on variations in the mass-loading of MnO2NW. The obtained TENG textile can convert various forms of bio-motion energy into electrical signal and the maximum output voltage of about 380 V can be obtained and easily light up 200 serially connected LEDs. Additionally, all-solid-state yarn-type asymmetric supercapacitor was woven with TENG and act as energy storage unit, which demonstrates high volumetric energy density and excellent cyclic stability. Because of the flexible all yarn-type structure of the entire system, the SC and TENG can be easily woven into cloth to continuously harvest and store bio-motion energy, which demonstrates great convenience and immense applications as wearable, lightweight, comfortable continuous bio-motion energy harvesting/storage device and versatile pressure sensing.

Automated summary

The study developed a wearable TENG textile for harvesting bio-motion energy using a round-tripping-knitting strategy, which optimized power generation performance by modulating dielectric permittivity. Additionally, an all-solid-state yarn-type asymmetric supercapacitor was integrated as an energy storage unit, demonstrating high volumetric energy density and excellent cyclic stability.