Single-material-substrated triboelectric–electromagnetic hybrid generator for self-powered multifunctional sensing in intelligent greenhouse

The environmental micro-energy harvested by the triboelectric–electromagnetic hybrid generator (TEHG) can power sensors and Internet of Things (IoT) nodes in smart agriculture. However, the separation structure of traditional TEHG raises the complexity of form and material, which is harmful to the miniaturization of the device. Herein, a single-material-substrated triboelectric–electromagnetic hybrid generator (SMS-TEHG) based on the flexible magnets is designed to achieve the structural integration of triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) and electromagnetic generator (EMG). The flexible magnets serve as the electropositive triboelectric materials for TENG and the magnetic materials for EMG, simplifying the structural complexity of TEHG. The open-circuit voltage (V_OC) of the TENG and EMG are 187.2 and 9.0 V at 300 rpm, respectively. After 30,000 cycles of stability testing, the V_OC of the TENG and EMG retain about 95.6% and 99.3%, respectively. Additionally, the self-powered applications driven by SMS-TEHG in intelligent greenhouse have been successfully demonstrated, such as crop light supplementation, rain monitoring, and wireless temperature and humidity sensing. This work provides a new design for TEHG and possibilities for applying TEHG and IoT in smart agriculture.