Ingenious use of natural triboelectrification on the human body for versatile applications in walking energy harvesting and body action monitoring

Abstract

Harvesting walking energy to generate sustainable power is critical for the development of portable and wearable electronics. Here, we demonstrate that by ingeniously taking advantage of natural triboelectrification and static charges on the human body, electric energy can be generated from our walking without the use of a specially designed shoe/sole or triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). The triboelectric system is composed of only Al electrodes, which makes it compatible with wearables due to its lightweight and flexibility. The electricity generated from every step during walking is sufficient to light up 100 commercial light-emitting diodes (LEDs) instantaneously. Furthermore, the simple system can act as a self-powered active sensor for monitoring our gait during walking, our health, and security. The triboelectric system is ultra-simple, lightweight, eco-friendly, and low-cost, which gives it potential for application in attachable electronics as a sustainable power source and a self-powered sensor.