Graphene-Infused Sustainable Rubber-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator For Real-Time Human Motion Monitoring

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Energy Harvesting
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) offer clean energy solutions but often rely on non-renewable polymers.
• Sustainable alternatives are crucial to reduce the carbon footprint of TENG development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To pioneer the use of natural rubber (NR) as a sustainable material for TENG.
• To optimize NR-based TENG performance by infusing graphene.
• To develop highly sensitive pressure sensors for human motion detection.

Main Methods:

• Graphene infusion into natural rubber to enhance dielectric properties and tribonegativity.
• Fabrication of TENG devices using stencil printing.
• Performance evaluation through simulation and experimental studies.
• Characterization of sensor sensitivity and power output.

Main Results:

• Optimized NR-graphene composite showed a dielectric constant of 411 (at 10^3 Hz) and a contact potential difference (CPD) of 1.85 V.
• Achieved a power density of 420 mW/m², a 250% increase over conventional NR.
• Developed ultra-thin (270 µm) pressure sensors capable of real-time human motion detection.
• Demonstrated excellent agreement between simulated and experimental TENG performance.

Conclusions:

• Natural rubber is a viable and sustainable material for high-performance TENG.
• Graphene infusion significantly boosts the energy harvesting and sensing capabilities of NR-based TENG.
• The developed sensors enable wireless healthcare monitoring through IoT integration.