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Eutectogel-based self-powered wearable sensor for health monitoring in harsh environments

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Abstract

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) have emerged as a highly promising energy harvesting technology, attracting significant attention in recent years for their broad applications. Gel-based TENGs, with superior stretchability and sensitivity, have been widely reported as wearable sensors. However, the traditional hydrogel-based TENGs suffer from freezing at low temperatures and drying at high temperatures, resulting in malfunctions. In this study, we introduce an anti-freezing eutectogel, which uses a deep eutectic solvent (DES), to improve the stability and electrical conductivity of TENGs in harsh environmental conditions. The eutectogel-based TENG (E-TENG) produces an open-circuit voltage of 776 V, a short-circuit current of 1.54 µA, and a maximum peak power of 1.1 mW. Moreover, the E-TENG exhibits exceptional mechanical properties with an elongation at a break of 476% under tension. Importantly, it maintains impressive performances across a wide temperature range from −18 to 60 °C, with conductivities of 2.15 S/m at −10 °C and 1.75 S/m at −18 °C. Based on the excellent weight stability of the E-TENG sensor, motion sensing can be achieved in the air, and even underwater. Finally, the versatility of the E-TENG can serve as a wearable sensor, by integrating it with Bluetooth technology. The self-powered E-TENG can monitor various human motion signals in realtime and send the health signals directly to mobile phones. This research paves a new road for the applications of TENGs in harsh environments, offering wireless flexible sensors with real-time health signal monitoring capabilities.

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Acknowledgements

The research was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China (No. ZR2021QE043), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 52101390 and 52331004), and the Open Project of Key Lab of Special Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, Henan University (No. KFKT-2022-11).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Materials Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China

    Junpeng Wu, Xinru Teng, Lu Liu, Hongzhi Cui & Xiaoyi Li

  2. Key Lab for Special Functional Materials of Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475004, China

    Xiaoyi Li

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  1. Junpeng Wu
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  2. Xinru Teng
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  3. Lu Liu
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Correspondence to Hongzhi Cui or Xiaoyi Li.

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Wu, J., Teng, X., Liu, L. et al. Eutectogel-based self-powered wearable sensor for health monitoring in harsh environments. Nano Res. 17, 5559–5568 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-024-6425-8

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