Large‐scale fabrication of core‐shell triboelectric braided fibers and power textiles for energy harvesting and plantar pressure monitoring

Abstract

AbstractFlexible and wearable energy harvesting devices and multifunctional sensors have been widely reported, but challenges in the large‐scale manufacturing process still exist. This work reports a large‐scale fabrication method of core‐shell triboelectric braided fibers that exhibit stable structure and strong tensile strength, which can be further integrated into power textiles with different fabric structures, such as weaving and knitting, with the purpose of biomechanical energy harvesting or plantar pressure monitoring. The triboelectric braided fibers integrating on the knitting power textiles exhibit good pressure sensitivity and fatigue resistance, which is combined with traditional socks to measure the pressure distribution of the plantar in different positions. The weaving power textiles exhibit high electrical output, which can be used for biomechanical energy harvesting and can easily light up 116 commercial LEDs. This large‐scale preparation approach provides more possibilities for power textiles applications in self‐powered wearable electronics and human–computer interfacing.