Principle and recent progress of triboelectric pressure sensors for wearable applications

Abstract

Nowadays, flexible sensors, especially flexible pressure sensors, have been widely used in wearable electronics to monitor human motion and health. With the booming development of Internet of Things (IoT) and the increasing importance of energy sustainability, triboelectric pressure sensors (TPSs) provide a powerful approach for wearable healthcare owing to its lightweight, easy manufacture, high sensitivity and self-powered properties. In this review, we introduce the sensing mechanisms and the mainly structure mode of representative TPSs. Then we examine the various electrode materials, fabrication techniques and surface microstructure strategies for manufacture TPSs in recent years. Finally, we highlight the application of triboelectric sensors used in wearable electronics and discuss the future research directions of TPSs. This paper could provide a comprehensive review and promising direction for self-powered wearable devices in human motion monitoring, health monitoring and human-machine interaction.