title: A highly shape-adaptive, stretchable design based on conductive liquid for energy harvesting and self-powered biomechanical monitoring.
abstract: The rapid growth of deformable and stretchable electronics calls for a deformable and stretchable power source. We report a scalable approach for energy harvesters and self-powered sensors that can be highly deformable and stretchable. With conductive liquid contained in a polymer cover, a shape-adaptive triboelectric nanogenerator (saTENG) unit can effectively harvest energy in various working modes. The saTENG can maintain its performance under a strain of as large as 300%. The saTENG is so flexible that it can be conformed to any three-dimensional and curvilinear surface. We demonstrate applications of the saTENG as a wearable power source and self-powered sensor to monitor biomechanical motion. A bracelet-like saTENG worn on the wrist can light up more than 80 light-emitting diodes. Owing to the highly scalable manufacturing process, the saTENG can be easily applied for large-area energy harvesting. In addition, the saTENG can be extended to extract energy from mechanical motion using flowing water as the electrode. This approach provides a new prospect for deformable and stretchable power sources, as well as self-powered sensors, and has potential applications in various areas such as robotics, biomechanics, physiology, kinesiology, and entertainment.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, and Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory of New Energy Materials and Technologies, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China.; School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0245, USA.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0245, USA.; Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Xiaofeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0245, USA.
authors.forename: Simiao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0245, USA.
authors.forename: Shengming
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Yajiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Keren
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, and Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory of New Energy Materials and Technologies, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Guangjie
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0245, USA.
authors.forename: Long
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0245, USA.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0245, USA.
authors.forename: Hengyu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0245, USA.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0245, USA.
authors.forename: Min-Hsin
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0245, USA.
authors.forename: Yunlong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zi
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, and Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory of New Energy Materials and Technologies, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Qingliang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: You
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and Materials, School of Materials Science and Engineering, and Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory of New Energy Materials and Technologies, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0245, USA.; Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100083, China.
authors.forename: Zhong Lin
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000535:Aluminum / Q000737:chemistry; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D055664:Electrochemical Techniques; D004566:Electrodes; D004867:Equipment Design; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry; D009757:Nylons / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D009757:Nylons; D011108:Polymers; D000535:Aluminum
keywords: Stretchable; energy harvesting; self-powered sensing; wearable