Fully Fabric Triboelectric Nanogenerators Based on SWCNH-Coated Cotton Fabric/UHMWPE: IoT Sensing

The high demand of sustainable, wearable, and environmentally friendly sensors has led to increased interest in devices such as triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). In particular, textile-TENGs (T-TENGs), a kind of nanogenerator based on textile materials, provide valuable features such as wearability, low cost, and potentially low environmental impact. In this work, triboelectric nanogenerators based on ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and cotton fabric (COF) have been manufactured. To further increase the output performance, cotton fabric was coated with single-walled carbon nanohorns (SWCNHs), both pristine and treated under oxidation. The coated COF/UHMWPE shows higher output voltage (up to 4.8 and 5.6 V, respectively), showing the positive effect associated with the presence of SWCNHs. Finally, to validate its performance, a proof of concept is presented by developing a portable electronic board for signal acquisition, processing, and analysis of the same as a remote Wi-Fi communication via http so that the breathing of a patient or an impact on the body could be measured and monitored.