Triboelectric nanogenerators for scientific instruments and devices

The working principle of TENGs involves two fundamental components: a triboelectric layer and an electrostatic induction layer. These layers are usually made of different materials with contrasting triboelectric properties. When these two layers come into contact-and-separate, an imbalanced distribution of electrons occurs due to the difference in electron affinity and ionization energy between two materials. During the contact phase, electrons move from one material to the other, building up positive and negative charges on each surface; as the materials separate, the trapped charges seek to neutralize, generating different electric potentials between the electrodes (or electrode and ground) connected to the triboelectric and the electrostatic induction layers. This review provides a detailed description of TENG application examples in the following five fields. i) As self-powered sensors/systems. ii) As a blue energy instruments and devices. iii) As high voltage source. iv) As micro/nano-energy devices. v) As liquid -solid interface probe. In addition, we also discussed four potential commercial application directions for TENG. i) Medical, health and environmental protection. ii) Self-powered security system. iii)  Micro-energy and blue energy. iv) Self-powered sensors.

As advanced devices and instruments, the applications and major achievements of TENG in major fields such as composite energy, marine blue energy, self-powered sensing, IoTs sensors, semiconductor devices, medical health, environmental protection, and artificial intelligence continue to appear. In this paper, we systematically introduce the principle of TENG, its working mode, current application status, and future prospects as scientific instruments and devices. The main application directions of TENG are described in detail from the following five fields. i) As self-powered sensors/systems. ii) As a blue energy instruments and devices. iii) As high voltage source. iv) As micro/nano-energy devices. v) As liquid -solid interface probe. In addition, we also discussed four potential commercial application directions for TENG. i) Medical, health and environmental protection. ii) Self-powered security system. iii)  Micro-energy and blue energy. iv) Self-powered sensors. More importantly, at the end of the paper, we predict the prospect of future advanced scientific instruments and devices based on TENG, especially in the field of fluid dynamics sensing. With the exploration of various new functional aircraft, the field of aircraft sensing has also ushered in a blooming spring. As for the TENG-based self-powered sensing, it has demonstrated its unique advantages in many fields such as aircraft surface flow sensing, aircraft stall sensing, aircraft stress and strain sensing, and flight weather sensing. First of all, the TENG can generate self-powered signals through charge transfer without additional energy supply system. Second, the self-powered signal generated by the TENG has a higher voltage, and as a sensor, it can be clearly distinguished from noisy signals and other interfering signals. In addition, TENG materials can be selectively rich, which can adapt to the material selection needs in complex working environments. Finally, the working modes of the TENG are diverse, and efficient TENG sensing systems can be designed according to different scenarios. 

In addition to aerospace, TENG also has a promising future in the field of liquid sensing. For example, the ocean occupies about 70% of the Earth's surface, and the sensing of various parameters of equipment in the ocean, as well as the sensing of the seawater itself, is crucial in the industry. However, due to the complexity of the ocean, traditional sensing equipment is difficult to effectively operate and maintain, and the self-powered characteristics of the TENG will also play an important role in this time. Distributed sensing devices and instruments for marine and other fluids will also be a very important development area for TENG in the future.The era with a large demand for TENG devices and instruments, is happening.