Unveiling the contact electrification of triboelectric fibers by exploring their unique micro- and macroscale structural properties

The emerging triboelectric fibers or textiles have recently attracted widespread attention due to their unique wearable energy supply and self-powered sensing functions. However, the unique micro- and macrostructural effects of triboelectric fibers on contact-electrificaion (CE) have not been systematically studied, which result in the lower charge output compared to conventional film structure. Here, in order to provide theoretical guidance for designing high-performance triboelectric fibers with optimized structural designs, a systematic experimental measurement and theoretical analysis method is developed to explore the influence laws and potential mechanisms of the surface microstructural defects and overall macrostructural compositions of triboelectric fibers on their CE behaviors. It can be found that the surface microstructure defects contribute to increasing the total charge transfer, due to the increase in effective interface contact area. In addition, triboelectric fibers with core–shell coaxial structure prepared by uniform coating method have higher electrical output performance, which can ensure maximum contact between the conductive layer and the dielectric layer. This work provides a new research paradigm for studying the CE behavior and quantifying surface charges of complex structures, and suggests a multiscale structural design strategy for high-performance triboelectric fibers.