Flexible Timbo-Like Triboelectric Nanogenerator as Self-Powered Force and Bend Sensor for Wireless and Distributed Landslide Monitoring

As worldwide landslides frequently result in enormous casualties and huge economic losses, new landslide monitoring technologies are urgently required to develop for preventing and mitigating landslide hazard. In this paper, a self-powered, flexible, timbo-like triboelectric force and bend sensor (TTEFBS) is proposed and implemented, with the aim of effectively monitoring landslides. The fabricated TTEFBS, based on a single-electrode working mode, consists of a timbo-like inner polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) core coated with a carbon electrode and an outer silicon rubber tube. Owing to the novel structure and sensing mechanism, the TTEFBS achieves high sensitivities (5.20 V N-1 under pressing and 1.61 V rad(-1) under bending), fast response/relaxation time (<6 ms), and long-term stability/reliability (more than 40 000 cycles). Furthermore, a wireless and distributed monitoring system using an array of TTEFBSs is developed for systematically detecting rockfalls, deep-seated landslides, and superficial landslides. Additionally, a zigzag-structured triboelectric nanogenerator (Z-TENG), characterized by an open-circuit voltage of approximate to 2058 V and a short-circuit current of approximate to 154 mu A, is successfully fabricated for scavenging energy from moving cars to provide power in wild environments, thereby forming a self-powered monitoring system. This work may further inspire rapid progress of TENG in applications of wireless, distributed sensing, and environmental/infrastructure monitoring.