Self-Healing and Elastic Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Muscle Motion Monitoring and Photothermal Treatment

Owing to wearing and unpredictable damage, the working lifetime of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) is largely limited. In this work, we prepared a single-electrode multifunctional TENG (MF-TENG) that exhibits fast self-healing, human health monitoring capability, and photothermal properties. The device consists of a thin self-healing poly(vinyl alcohol)-based hydrogel sandwiched between two self-healing silicone elastomer films. The MF-TENG exhibits a short-circuit current, short-circuit transfer charge, and open-circuit voltage of 7.98 mu A, 78.34 nC, and 38.57 V, respectively. Furthermore, owing to the repairable networks of the dynamic imine bonds in the charged layer and the borate ester bonds in the electrodes, the prepared device could recover its original state after mechanical damage within 10 min at room temperature. The MF-TENG can be attached to different human joints for self-powered monitoring of personal health information. Additionally, the MF-TENG under near-infrared laser irradiation can provide a photothermal therapy for assisting the recovery of human joints motion. It is envisaged that the proposed MF-TENG can be applied to the fields of wearable electronics and health-monitoring devices.

Automated summary

The study developed a single-electrode multifunctional TENG with fast self-healing, human health monitoring, and photothermal properties. The device can recover its original state within 10 minutes after mechanical damage, and can be attached to human joints for monitoring personal health information while also providing photothermal therapy to assist in joint motion recovery.