Professor Zhen Wen - Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Self-powered Sensing

IAS Visiting Fellow Professor Zhen Wen delivers a seminar on their research - Tactile sensors have attracted much attention for their potential applications in health monitoring, wearable devices, electronic skin and smart robots, etc. A new generation of self-powered tactile sensor based on triboelectric nanogenerator has been developed in terms of its incomparable advantages in power consumption and potential performance. Based on the coupling effect of contact-electrification and electrostatic induction, it enables to obtain the information on the mechanical input, e.g., magnitude and frequency, by analysing electrical output signals. Intensive efforts have been devoted to improve the sensing performance of triboelectric pressure sensor to meet the demand of the practicality. In this talk, the key advancements in materials, structures and applications of self-powered triboelectric pressure sensors will be systematically introduced. Then, the theoretical basis, impact mechanism and the approaches to optimize the pressure sensing performance will be comprehensively analysed. Afterwards, I will summarize the typical applications of triboelectric pressure sensors in different pressure ranges and working frequencies. Finally, the future perspectives of self-powered triboelectric tactile sensor and self-powered microsystem will also be discussed. For more information about the IAS, please visit - https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/ias