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Research Article | Open Access

Self-powered tactile sensor for real-time recognition of Morse code based on machine learning

Shenxing Tan1,2,3,§, Yang Jiang3,4,§, Xujiang Chao5,§, Fei Liang2, Ripeng Li6, Tao Jiang1,3,4( ), Hai-Dong Yu2( ), Zhong Lin Wang1,3( )
Guangzhou Institute of Blue Energy, Guangzhou 510555, China
Frontiers Science Center for Flexible Electronics, Xi'an Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE), and Xi'an Institute of Biomedical Materials & Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China
Beijing Key Laboratory of Micro-Nano Energy and Sensor, Center for High-Entropy Energy and Systems, Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101400, China
School of Nanoscience and Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
School of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China
School of Computer Science (National Pilot Software Engineering School), Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing 100876, China

§ Shenxing Tan, Yang Jiang, and Xujiang Chao contributed equally to this work.

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Graphical Abstract

A flexible silk fibroin fiber-based triboelectric nanogenerator (SF-TENG) has been developed, generating electrical signals through fingertip tapping via the triboelectric effect. Featuring efficient energy conversion, the SF-TENG enables wearable sensing and real-time Morse code recognition, paving the way for intelligent and sustainable electronics.

Abstract

Developing lightweight, green, and flexible wearable electronics with high sensitivity and multifunctional sensing capabilities is of important significance in the field of outdoor sports, such as mountaineering, animal tracking and protection. This work proposes a silk fibroin fibers-based triboelectric nanogenerator (SF-TENG) to harvest tiny energy from human fingertip tapping and act as a self-powered tactile sensor. The SF-TENG adopts a green, efficient, and low-cost fabrication strategy, in which a breathable and electropositive silk fibroin fiber membrane and a silver conductive layer are prepared by electrostatic spinning and magnetron sputtering, and combined with a conductive cloth and a breathable tape to form a flexible sensor that can be attached to a human skin. The thin and soft portable TENG device, having a thickness of only 0.3 mm and a mass of 354 mg at the dimension of 4.5 cm × 4.5 cm, can generate a maximum power density of 1.0 mW·m–2. Furthermore, the SF-TENG has excellent sensitivity of 1.767 mV·Pa–1 with good cyclic stability. The superior sensing characteristics provide new avenues for Morse code applications toward outdoor wearable autonomous communication. The proposed SF-TENG offers promising solutions in multi-scenario outdoor sport, human-machine interface interaction, and security systems.

Keywords

flexible electronicstriboelectric nanogeneratorsilk fibroinMorse code translation

Electronic Supplementary Material

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Nano Research
Volume 18 Issue 2,
February 2025
Article number: 94907167
DOI: 10.26599/NR.2025.94907167
Cite this article:
Tan S, Jiang Y, Chao X, et al. Self-powered tactile sensor for real-time recognition of Morse code based on machine learning. Nano Research, 2025, 18(2): 94907167. https://doi.org/10.26599/NR.2025.94907167

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Received: 02 October 2024
Revised: 14 November 2024
Accepted: 02 December 2024
Published: 13 January 2025
© The Author(s) 2025. Published by Tsinghua University Press.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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