Dong Chaoqun, Leber Andreas, Das Gupta Tapajyoti, Chandran Rajasundar, Volpi Marco, Qu Yunpeng, Nguyen-Dang Tung, Bartolomei Nicola, Yan Wei, Sorin Fabien
Institute of Materials, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, 1015, Switzerland.
Nat Commun. 2020 Jul 15;11(1):3537. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-17345-8.
Fibers that harvest mechanical energy via the triboelectric effect are excellent candidates as power sources for wearable electronics and functional textiles. Thus far however, their fabrication remains complex, and exhibited performances are below the state-of-the-art of 2D planar configurations, making them impractical. Here, we demonstrate the scalable fabrication of micro-structured stretchable triboelectric fibers with efficiencies on par with planar systems. We use the thermal drawing process to fabricate advanced elastomer fibers that combine a micro-textured surface with the integration of several liquid metal electrodes. Such fibers exhibit high electrical outputs regardless of repeated large deformations, and can sustain strains up to 560%. They can also be woven into deformable machine-washable textiles with high electrical outputs up to 490 V, 175 nC. In addition to energy harvesting, we demonstrate self-powered breathing monitoring and gesture sensing capabilities, making this triboelectric fiber platform an exciting avenue for multi-functional wearable systems and smart textiles.
通过摩擦电效应收集机械能的纤维是可穿戴电子产品和功能性纺织品的理想电源候选者。然而，到目前为止，它们的制造仍然很复杂，且所展示的性能低于二维平面结构的现有水平，使其不切实际。在此，我们展示了具有与平面系统相当效率的微结构可拉伸摩擦电纤维的可扩展制造方法。我们利用热拉伸工艺制造先进的弹性体纤维，该纤维结合了微纹理表面以及多个液态金属电极。这种纤维无论经历多次大变形都能表现出高电输出，并且能够承受高达560%的应变。它们还可以被编织成具有高达490 V、175 nC高电输出的可变形且可机洗的纺织品。除了能量收集，我们还展示了自供电呼吸监测和手势传感能力，使这个摩擦电纤维平台成为多功能可穿戴系统和智能纺织品的一条令人兴奋的途径。
