Universal Energy Solution for Triboelectric Sensors Toward the 5G Era and Internet of Things

The launching of 5G technology provides excellent opportunity for the prosperous development of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and intelligent wireless sensor nodes. However, deploying of tremendous wireless sensor nodes network presents a great challenge to sustainable power supply and self-powered active sensing. Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has shown great capability for powering wireless sensors and work as self-powered sensors since its discovery in 2012. Nevertheless, its inherent property of large internal impedance and pulsed high-voltage and low-current output characteristic seriously limit its direct application as stable power supply. Herein, a generic triboelectric sensor module (TSM) is developed toward managing the high output of TENG into signals that can be directly utilized by commercial electronics. Finally, an IoT-based smart switching system is realized by integrating the TSM with a typical vertical contact-separation mode TENG and microcontroller, which is able to monitor the real-time appliance status and location information. Such design of a universal energy solution for triboelectric sensors is applicable for managing and normalizing the wide output range generated from various working modes of TENGs and suitable for facile integration with IoT platform, representing a significant step toward scaling up TENG applications in future smart sensing.

Automated summary

The launching of 5G technology has created a promising opportunity for the development of Internet of Things devices and intelligent wireless sensor nodes. However, the deployment of a large network of wireless sensor nodes poses challenges in terms of sustainable power supply and self-powered active sensing. The development of a triboelectric sensor module (TSM) aims to address these challenges by converting the high output of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) into signals that can be used directly by commercial electronics. With the integration of TSM, a smart switching system based on IoT has been realized, enabling real-time monitoring of appliance status and location information.