Cationic Polymer Functionalized Nanofiber Mat-Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Self-Powered Human Motion Monitoring

Herein, a highly sensitive self-powered human motion sensor (SPHMS) is proposed based on cationic polymer functionalized nanofibrous mat for first time. The TENG-based SPHMS is composed of polyethylene oxide (PEO) with polydiallyldimethylammonium chloride (Poly-DADMAC) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofibers, as highly positive and negative triboelectric layers, respectively. Incorporating cationic polymer poly-DAD MAC into PEO significantly increases the dielectric constant owing to the micro-capacitor network and microscopic dipole formation. As a result, the SPHMS showed outstanding performance with a power output of 2.25 mW and a sensitivity of 24 V/kPa. The proof of concept was effectively demonstrated to showcase the functionality of the SPHMS system through smartphone-based monitoring of human activities such as walking, running, and jumping.