Fully casted stretchable triboelectric device for energy harvesting and sensing made of elastomeric materials

Abstract

Fully casted wearable soft triboelectric devices for energy harvesting and motion sensing are presented. Developed devices feature simple designs and are made of elastomeric materials where scalable fabrication methods can be applied. Film casting and stencil printing techniques were used to deposit polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polyurethane (PU) and carbon-based elastomeric materials. The soft triboelectric generator (TENG) with sliding design provides a higher output density of 3.6 μW/cm2 in comparison to 0.05 μW/cm2 for the vertical mode design, at operational frequency of 0.9±0.2 Hz. These soft TENGs demonstrated sensing and energy scavenging capabilities from body movements.