β-Phase-Preferential blow-spun fabrics for wearable triboelectric nanogenerators and textile interactive interface

Abstract Wearable textile electronics have been extensively developed with versatile functionality and self-powered autonomy. Here, we demonstrated β-phase-preferential solution-blow-spun fabrics for application to wearable TENGs and a textile interactive interface. The nonwoven fabric fabricated by solution blow spinning (SBS) was successfully applied as the triboelectric layer in TENGs. The uniaxial elongation of the polymer chains along the fiber axis during the SBS process promoted the formation of polar β-phase crystals in the solution-blow-spun nanofibers, which led to a negative shift in the surface potential and enhancement of the TENG performances. The relationship between the surface charge potential and the crystalline phase of the fabricated nonwoven fabric was comprehensively investigated. The constructed fabric TENG delivered excellent output performances such as a high open-circuit voltage of 260 V, short-circuit current of 27 μA, and high output power of 7 mW; these values were satisfactory for its utilization in the harvesting of biomechanical energy and subsequent driving of commercial portable electronic devices. The fabric TENG was further successfully utilized as a wireless fabric interactive interface for controlling domestic appliances and video playback. The proposed β-phase-preferential blow-spun fabric TENGs are highly promising for application to next-generation intelligent textronics and self-powered human–robot interaction interfaces.