AM/AMPS delignified wood-based hydrogel with enhanced mechanical strength and fatigue resistance for wearable strain sensing and energy harvesting

Abstract

Hydrogels with enhanced mechanical strength and fatigue resistance have attracted considerable attention in the development of advanced triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). Flexible electrode is the key to the preparation of TENG. However, the preparation process of traditional flexible electrode is complex, the mechanical strength is poor, and the cost is high. These factors limit its application and development. In this work, a composite material named AM/AMPS wood-based hydrogel (AWH) was reported, which was composed of acrylamide (AM)/2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid (AMPS) hydrogel and delignification wood. AWH combines the natural fiber structure of wood and the softness of hydrogel, and has excellent mechanical properties and fatigue resistance. AWH is assembled into a triboelectric nanogenerator (AWH-TENG), which has high power generation performance and low cost. The AWH-TENG has an open circuit voltage of 60 V and can light up 113 LED bulbs. At the same time, AWH is sensitive to mechanical stimuli, so we have carried out research on its application in the field of wearable motion monitoring and writing sensing and achieved good results. In addition, the writing sensing system based on AWH-TENG is expected to be combined with deep learning to develop a new handwriting recognition system.