Flexible PDMS-based triboelectric nanogenerator for instantaneous force sensing and human joint movement monitoring

Abstract

Flexible wearable sensors with excellent electric response and self-powered capability have become an appealing hotspot for personal healthcare and human–machine interfaces. Here, based on triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), a flexible self-powered tactile sensor composed of micro-frustum-arrays-structured polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film/copper (Cu) electrodes, and poly(vinylidenefluoride–trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE)) nanofibers has been demonstrated. The TENG-based self-powered tactile sensor can generate electrical signals through the contact-separation process of two triboelectric layers under external mechanical stimuli. Due to the uniform and controllable micro-frustum-arrays structure fabricated by micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) process and the P(VDF-TrFE) nanofibers fabricated by electrostatic spinning, the flexible PDMS-based sensor presents high sensitivity of 2.97 V kPa−1, stability of 40,000 cycles (no significant decay), response time of 60 ms at 1 Hz, low detection pressure of a water drop (~4 Pa, 35 mg) and good linearity of 0.99231 in low pressure region. Since the PDMS film presents ultra-flexibility and excellent-biocompatibility, the sensor can be comfortably attached on human body. Furthermore, the tactile sensor can recognize various types of human body movements by the corresponding electrical signals. Therefore, the as-prepared TENGs are potential on the prospects of gesture detection, health assessment, human-machine interfaces and so on.