Cylindrical spiral triboelectric nanogenerator

In recent years, triboelectric nanogenerators have attracted much attention because of their unique potential in self-powered nanosensors and nanosystems. In this paper, we report a cylindrical spiral triboelectric nanogenerator (S-TENG), which not only can produce high electric output to power display devices, but also can be used as a self-powered displacement sensor integrated on a measurement ruler. At a sliding speed of 2.5 m/s, S-TENG can generate a short-circuit current (I_SC) of 30 μA and an open-circuit voltage (V_OC) of 40 V. As the power source, we fabricate a transparent and flexible hand-driven S-TENG. Furthermore, we demonstrate a self-powered S-TENG-based measuring tapeline that can accurately measure and display the pulled-out distance without the need for an extra battery. The results obtained indicate that TENG-based devices have good potential for application in self-powered measurement systems.