Textiles Coated with Conductive Nanoparticles for Energy Scavenging Wearables and Self-Powered Electronics

Textile-based triboelectric nanogenerators (T-TENGs) are attracting significant research attention owing to their easy adaptability to wearables for efficient energy harvesting to power portable electronics. In this regard, textiles are coated with conductive nanoparticles using a facile and cost-effective brush coating method followed by casting. Moreover, the intertwined micro-fibrous network of the textile can play a key role in enhancing the effective contact area between the active materials of TENG as well as its electrical output. Such a nanoparticle-coated textile with great flexibility and lightweight is employed as an electrode as well as a triboelectric material to design wearable and inexpensive single- or dual-electrode mode TENGs. Distinct types of polymers are utilized as negative triboelectric material. The effect of various key parameters on the output performance of T-TENG is investigated by the theoretical simulation model and compared with the experiment. Additionally, the electrical stability and mechanical durability of T-TENG are also examined over the long-term cyclic operations. Finally, the power generated by the textile-based TENG device stored into an integrated energy storage system and further deployed to drive various low-power and portable electronic systems are demonstrated.