Enhanced Performance of Triboelectric Nanogenerator with Micro-Rhombic Patterned PDMS for Self-Powered Wearable Sensing

In recent years, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have been used in energy harvesting and microsensing widely, and the performance of TENGs has been gradually improved through dielectric material surface modification strategies. Microscopic arrays mostly require expensive and tedious experimental steps to fabricate, such as micropillars, microneedles, cubes, and pyramids. Herein, a new type of triboelectric nanogenerator consisting of micro-rhombic patterned PDMS (MR-TENG) is proposed to enhance the performance. The micro-rhombic patterns are simple to produce, using only a wire bar coater. The open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current of MR-TENG can achieve 81 V and 2.04 mu A, respectively, which are 2.7 and 2 times those of triboelectric nanogenerator with smooth PDMS (S-TENG). In addition, MR-TENG can not only serve as a self-powered motion sensor to recognize human motion status, but also be combined with electronic devices to form a self-powered system to power small wearable devices including LCD screens, watches, and temperature and humidity sensors. MR-TENG has the advantages of high cost-effective, simple process, environment-friendly, and miniaturization, which have good practical value in self-powered wearable sensors.