Smart textile triboelectric nanogenerators: Current status and perspectives

Textile triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is a kind of smart textile technology that integrates traditional flexible and wearable textile materials with emerging and advanced TENG science, which not only embraces the capabilities of autonomous energy harvesting and active self-powered sensing, but also maintains original wearability and desired comfortability. With the help of the burden-free and self-sufficient wearable intelligent system, individuals can achieve convenient acquisition and efficient utilization of electric energy, which will help to promote the future development of human-oriented on-body electronics and artificial intelligence. Here, some fundamental knowledge and core elements, including the operational modes and corresponding service occasions, charge generation and transfer mechanisms, remaining challenges and potential solutions are comprehensively summarized and systematically discussed. Based on these analyses, a roadmap toward the scientific research and large-scale commercial application of textile TENGs in the next decade is highlighted at the end of the article. We believe that textile TENGs will become an indispensable part of daily clothing in the future, thus benefiting all humankind and human civilization.