Multi-material 3D printed smart floor tiles with triboelectric energy generation and security monitoring

With the growing demand for integrated smart home systems driven by advancements in the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart city initiatives, the need for efficient, simple, and self-sustaining sensors has become essential. Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have recently emerged as a promising device for both energy harvesting and sensing. However, the fabrication of different TENG layers using conventional techniques is often complex, time-intensive, and involves multiple processing steps. Here, a single-step multi-material 3D printing (MMP) approach is used to fabricate the fully functional TENG device, consisting of positive and negative triboelectric layers, current collectors and supporting substrate. Nylon 6 and carbon/polyvinylidene fluoride (C/PVDF) filaments are selected for positive and negative triboelectric layers, respectively and conductive carbon/polylactic acid (C/PLA) filament was selected for both current collectors and wood/PLA is selected for both top and bottom supporting layers. The MMP-TENG is integrated with electronics to showcase its capability for remote monitoring in smart home settings to detect real-time fall detection and security monitoring. This research will pave the way for fabricating a smart floor for security monitoring and energy generation in a smart building.

随着物联网（Internet of Things, IoT）技术进步与智慧城市倡议推动集成智能家居系统的需求持续攀升，对高效、简洁且自维持型传感器的需求已至关重要。摩擦纳米发电机（Triboelectric Nanogenerators, TENGs）近来已成为兼具能量收集与传感功能的极具应用前景的器件。然而，采用传统工艺制备不同摩擦纳米发电机功能层往往流程复杂、耗时冗长，且需多步加工操作。本研究采用单步多材料三维打印（Multi-Material 3D Printing, MMP）工艺制备了功能完整的摩擦纳米发电机器件，该器件包含正、负摩擦电层、集流电极与支撑基底。研究分别选用尼龙6（Nylon 6）与碳/聚偏氟乙烯（Carbon/Polyvinylidene Fluoride, C/PVDF）丝材作为正、负摩擦电层原料；选用导电碳/聚乳酸（Carbon/Polylactic Acid, C/PLA）丝材制备集流电极，同时选用木质/聚乳酸（Wood/PLA）丝材作为上下支撑层材料。本研究将多材料三维打印摩擦纳米发电机（MMP-TENG）与电子系统集成，验证了其在智能家居场景中实现实时跌倒检测与安全监控的远程监测能力。本研究为面向智能建筑安全监控与能量收集的智能地板制备奠定了技术基础。