Self-powered multifunctional UV and IR photodetector as an artificial electronic eye

Inspired by the human eye, an electronic eye (e-eye) is a photodetector that senses optical signals. To solve the problems of power supply and the limitation of application only in the visible region, a self-powered, multifunctional e-eye for UV and IR light detection was developed. The e-eye harvests mechanical and thermal energy from the ambient environment by the triboelectric and thermoelectric effect to power itself. ZnO and RGO were chosen as active UV and IR photosensitive materials, respectively, and were vertically integrated into a single device with a multilayer structure. The self-powered, e-eye has good photoelectric properties. Moreover, it can distinguish UV and IR irradiation of different intensities individually or simultaneously through the generation of different electric signals, endowing the e-eye great with potential applications in portable/wearable UV and IR detection devices.