A facile respiration-driven triboelectric nanogenerator for multifunctional respiratory monitoring

• Published in: Nano energy 2019-04, Vol.58, p.312-321
• Main Authors: Wang, Si, Tai, Huiling, Liu, Bohao, Duan, Zaihua, Yuan, Zhen, Pan, Hong, Su, Yuanjie, Xie, Guangzhong, Du, Xiaosong, Jiang, Yadong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ce-doped ZnO-PANI; Multifunctional respiratory monitoring; Respiration-driven; Self-powered; Triboelectric nanogenerator
• ISSN: 2211-2855
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2019.01.042

Respiration is an important physiological process of human body that can not only act as vital signs for physical health management or “biomarkers” of some diseases, but also as a kind of energy that can be utilized to drive triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). It is particularly desirable to develop a facile TENG that can be driven by human respiration itself for multifunctional human respiratory monitoring. In this work, a respiration-driven TENG based on Ce-doped ZnO-PANI nanocomposite film that can convert respiratory airflow energy into electric signals was developed for the detection of multiple respiratory parameters including trace-level NH3 concentration, human respiratory flow and respiratory frequency. It was found that the as-designed TENG exhibited excellent ability for respiratory flow monitoring (2–6 L/min), identification of human breathing frequency and recognition of different breathing patterns. Furthermore, output voltage of the self-powered NH3 sensor monotonously decreases with the increase of NH3 concentrations from 0.1 to 25 ppm. Especially, a good NH3-sensing performance was exhibited when exposed to a trace-level NH3 atmosphere ranging from 0.1 to 1 ppm, implying a promising potential in self-powered disease screening related to the detection of exhaled NH3 in human breathing. This research offers a facile method to establish a multifunctional respiratory monitoring system driven by respiration itself, which is of significant importance in self-powered human health monitoring through non-implantable respiratory diagnosis. [Display omitted] •A respiration-driven TENG that can detect multiple respiratory parameters was established.•The as-designed TENG exhibited excellent ability for respiratory flow monitoring and different breathing behaviors.•A good NH3-sensing performance was exhibited when exposed to a trace-level NH3 atmosphere ranging from 0.1 to 1 ppm.•This research offers a facile method to achieve multifunctional respiratory monitoring.