Highly flexible and transparent triboelectric nanogenerators toward reliable energy harvesting and recognition

Abstract

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) have been a research hotspot with the rapid development of medical rehabilitation, environmental monitoring and human-computer interaction. However, most of the existing studies are based on the electric-collecting properties of TENG device, and few studies have considered the light transmittance of TENG device. Here, we propose a strategy for this dilemma. That is the transparent TENG device, which displays a remarkable charge generation ability, transparent and reliable performance. The measured voltage values show a steady change trend regardless of different days, bending times or bending angles, suggesting the excellent stability of the transparent TENG device. More importantly, the transparency property of TENG solves the light transmission problem of the TENG device integrated materials, which supplies a satisfactory solution to expand application scenarios for current TENG device. An idea based on the recognition of human hands in transparent scenarios is proposed. The hand recognition rate of the transparent TENG is as high as 100% in the accuracy test of six volunteers. In addition, we carried out the real-time identification of four individuals based on the data processing and display module of the transparent TENG device and the recognition rates were 100%, 100%, 81% and 26%. This study proposes a new method to design single electrode TENG device showing its effectiveness in light transmission applications and superior electrical properties.