A wearable noncontact free-rotating hybrid nanogenerator for self-powered electronics

Self-powerability is a new trend in the development of portable devices. Harvesting biomechanical energy to power personal information electronics is of great significance. In this work, we report a wearable noncontact free-rotating hybrid nanogenerator (WRG), which is constituted by a triboelectric nanogenerator and an electromagnetic generator. A continuous output over 2 seconds can be achieved during one instantaneous incentive by external force, which is improved by two orders of magnitude compared to other wearable nanogenerators due to its unique mechanical energy storage design. The WRG can be integrated into shoes to generate an output energy of 14.68 mJ in each stepping, which meets the power requirements of most personal information electronics. The wireless sensor, GPS, and smartphone can be powered by the WRG continuously. The WRG is expected to be applied in self-powered information electronics extensively in the future.