Abstract
Triboelectrification (contact electrification) as a physical phenomenon appeared for the first time in a dialogue by Plato around 400 B.C. The phenomenon described in the dialogue is about amber that people wear attracting dry hair. The description also indicated that triboelectrification was first discovered on the human body. However, the studies that have been carried out on triboelectrification were mostly based on other materials, such as polymers, rather than on the human body. The invention of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) has recently opened a door for both fundamental and applied research and brought triboelectrification into real applications. The human body's triboelectricity, as a vital part of studies, has also attracted much interest in the past ten years. Research and review articles were published during this period. However, few articles included the biological fundamentals of the triboelectrification of the human body. Moreover, most of the review articles missed two important parts: the electrostatic discharge (ESD) of the human body, which has been widely studied in electronics, and the cosmetics that reduce the triboelectrification of hair. A systematic review including the fundamentals and the applications could help readers understand the human body's triboelectricity. Given this, we proposed this review article on the human body's triboelectricity. The paper will cover a brief history and a brief mechanism summary of triboelectrification; the epidermis structure of the human hair and skin, including how the chemicals on the epidermal layer contribute to the skin's triboelectricity; fundamental studies of the human body's triboelectricity; and applications that utilize the human body's triboelectricity. Perspectives for future studies and conclusions will be given at the end of the review.
Highlights
Triboelectrification as a physical phenomenon appeared for the first time in a dialogue by Plato around 400 B.C
One of the known applications is the Van de Graaff generator [15], which has lately been used as a particle accelerator. Beside these machines that can use the human body’s triboelectricity, there are other electrostatic generators such as the Kelvin water dropper [16], Holtz machine[17], and Wimshurst machine[18] that adopted other materials have been invented in the history
Potential applications in the Internet of Things (IoT) [34] and artificial intelligence [2] will make triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have a high impact on modern information technologies
Summary
The first description of the triboelectric phenomenon, "the marvels that are observed about the attraction of amber" [1], appeared in Plato’s dialogue Timaeus, which dates to approximately 400 B.C. The charge generation was recognized as being the result of rubbing two materials together for a very long time It was not until 1789 when Alessandro Volta noted that it is contact, rather than rubbing, that leads to charge transfer; people started to realize that the actual mechanism was not that simple. One of the known applications is the Van de Graaff generator [15], which has lately been used as a particle accelerator Beside these machines that can use the human body’s triboelectricity, there are other electrostatic generators such as the Kelvin water dropper [16], Holtz machine[17], and Wimshurst machine[18] that adopted other materials have been invented in the history. Potential applications in the Internet of Things (IoT) [34] and artificial intelligence [2] will make TENGs have a high impact on modern information technologies
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