Stretching-enhanced triboelectric nanogenerator for efficient wind energy scavenging and ultrasensitive strain sensing

The development of intelligent electronic devices increasingly facilitates the configuration of smart city. However, the heavy using of Li-ion batteries can cause high cost and a series of environmental pollution owing to frequent charging induced by their limited electric capacity. Here, we report a stretching-enhanced triboelectric nanogenerator for efficient wind energy scavenging and ultrasensitive strain sensing based on stretchable composites. The output voltage and current signals can be dramatically increased by 220% and 380% by applying a 70% stretched strain as compared with that under the condition of 0% strain, which is associated with the stretched strain-induced increase of contact area. Moreover, the corresponding output power can be increased by 680% due to the stretched strain of 70%, while the impedance can be decreased by 58.3%. A high strain sensitivity of 1.75 ln(V) or 0.97 ln(Hz) under the stretched strains ranged from 0% to 45% can be obtained as a self-powered strain sensor.