A Self-Healing Triboelectric Nanogenerator Based on Feather for Sensing and Energy Harvesting

A useful direction to solve the energy problem is the effective repeated use of biomaterial for mechanical energy collection and sensing applications. Here, a feather-based single-electrode triboelectric nanogenerator (F-STENG) by only sputtering copper atoms on the feathers are presented. The feather of F-STENG, as a natural material, has environmental friendliness, which is different from the polymer materials of other triboelectric nanogenerators. F-STENG has super durability due to its feather structure self-healing property. The device has a high output voltage of 90 V and an output current of 3.5 mu A. After breaking and self-healing lots of times, the output performance is also 80% of the original. F-STENG has a high sensitivity to temperature, humidity, and wind speed, and the sensitivity is 0.50 V degrees C-1, -0.98 V RH-1, and 1.67 mu A m(-1) s(-1). The output power of F-STENG is 0.62 mW g(-1), which can realize global positioning and photographing to solve the module energy consumption problem. F-STENG provides an effective way for the application of self-powered sensors and equipment in military, industrial, transportation, and daily life.

Automated summary

F-STENG utilizes feathers as a natural material, with environmental friendliness and high durability. It has high sensitivity to temperature, humidity, and wind speed, providing an effective solution for energy problems.