Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are a promising technology for harvesting ambient mechanical energy, yet their durability is fundamentally limited by friction-induced wear at functional interfaces. Friction in TENGs is inherently paradoxical: it enables charge generation while simultaneously accelerating material degradation. This review systematically summarizes five advanced mechanical friction-reduction strategies developed to address this paradox, including rolling friction, soft contact, intermittent contact, non-contact and interface lubrication. Each friction-reduction strategy is systematically evaluated with respect to the corresponding structural design, operating mechanism and application scenarios in insulator- and semiconductor-based TENGs. Furthermore, a comparative evaluation is conducted to provide a foundational understanding of how friction-reduction methods influence the performance of TENGs and to guide future design optimization. In addition, we outlook the emerging trends toward intelligent, integrated triboelectric energy systems and present a roadmap for practical implementation and commercialization. This review offers valuable insights into the path forward for achieving highly efficient and long-term durable TENGs.

Contact electrification (CE) is one of the most important physical phenomena within the realm of surface science, with a history spanning over 2,600 years. Although numerous experiments have been conducted to detect CE and theories regarding electron, ion, and material transfer have been proposed, the mechanism of CE remains a subject of ongoing debate and continues to intrigue scientists. A key issue in CE studies is accurately measuring the charge transfer in various situations. The development of charge transfer measurements has consistently led to a deeper understanding of CE. In this review, we explore the field of CEs, focusing on methods for measuring charge transfer. The introduction of six experimental methods from macroscopic to microscopic and first-principles calculations for CE studies aims to promote their proper use and inspire the design of new methods. Moreover, we highlight the shortcomings of the present research approach and provide a perspective on future methodological developments.

Tribotronics is an emerging research field that focuses on the coupling of triboelectricity and semiconductors. In this review, we summarise and explore three branches of tribotronics. Firstly, we introduce the tribovoltaic effect, which involves direct-current power generation through mechanical friction on semiconductor interfaces. This effect offers significant advantages in terms of high power density compared to traditional insulator-based triboelectric nanogenerators. Secondly, we elaborate on triboelectric modulation, which utilises the triboelectric potential on field-effect transistors. This approach enables active mechanosensation and nanoscale tactile perception. Additionally, we present triboelectric management, which aims to improve energy supply efficiency using semiconductor device technology. This strategy provides an effective microenergy solution for sensors and microsystems. For the interactions between triboelectricity and semiconductors, the research of tribotronics has exhibited the electronics of interfacial friction systems, and the triboelectric technology by electronics. This review demonstrates the promising prospects of tribotronics in the development of new functional devices and self-powered microsystems for intelligent manufacturing, robotic sensing, and the industrial Internet of Things.

The myriad sensing nodes in the Internet of Things (IoT) are mainly powered by battery, which has limited the lifespan and increased the maintenance costs. Herein, a self-powered IoT sensing node based on triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is proposed for the sustainable environmental monitoring. The wind powered TENG (W-TENG) is adopted in freestanding mode with the rabbit hair and six pairs of finger electrodes. With the energy management module, the weak electrical energy from W-TENG can be converted into a stable direct current (DC) 2.5 V voltage for the operation of the IoT sensing node. When the storage energy exceeds 4.4 V, the node can be activated, then the microprogrammed control unit (MCU) transmits the monitoring data. Thereafter, the monitoring data will be identified and relayed to the IoT cloud platform by narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) module. At a wind speed of 8.4 m/s, the node can realize the wireless monitoring and data transmission for temperature and atmosphere pressure every 30 s. This work has provided a universal strategy for sustainable IoT sensing nodes powered by environmental micro-nano mechanical energy and exhibited potential applications in IoT, big data, and environmental monitoring.

As an emerging technology to convert environmental high-entropy energy into electrical energy, triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) has great demands for further enhancing the service lifetime and output performance in practical applications. Here, an ultra-robust and high-performance rotational triboelectric nanogenerator (R-TENG) by bearing charge pumping is proposed. The R-TENG composes of a pumping TENG (P-TENG), an output TENG (O-TENG), a voltage-multiplying circuit (VMC), and a buffer capacitor. The P-TENG is designed with freestanding mode based on a rolling ball bearing, which can also act as the rotating mechanical energy harvester. The output low charge from the P-TENG is accumulated and pumped to the non-contact O-TENG, which can simultaneously realize ultralow mechanical wear and high output performance. The matched instantaneous power of R-TENG is increased by 32 times under 300 r/min. Furthermore, the transferring charge of R-TENG can remain 95% during 15 days (6.4 × 10⁶ cycles) continuous operation. This work presents a realizable method to further enhance the durability of TENG, which would facilitate the practical applications of high-performance TENG in harvesting distributed ambient micro mechanical energy.

The development of triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) technology which can directly convert ambient mechanical energy into electric energy may affect areas from green energy harvesting to emerging wearing electronics. And, the material of triboelectric layer is critical to the mechanical robustness and electrical output characteristics of the TENGs. Herein, a MXene enhanced electret polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) film with a high mechanical property and surface charge density is developed. The MXene/PTFE composite film was synthesized by spraying and annealing treatment. With the doping of MXene, the crystallinity of composite film could be tuned, leading to an enhancement in the tensile property of 450% and reducing the wear volume about 80% in the friction test. Furthermore, the as-fabricated TENG with this composite film outputs 397 V of open-circuit voltage, 21 μA of short-circuit current, and 232 nC of transfer charge quantity, which are 4, 6, and 6 times higher than that of the TENG made by pure PTFE film, respectively. Therefore, this work provides a creative strategy to simultaneously improve the mechanical property and electrical performance of the TENGs, which have great potential in improving device stability under a complex mechanical environment.

In this paper, a floating-gate tribotronic transistor (FGTT) based on a mobile triboelectric layer and a traditional silicon-based field-effect transistor (FET) is proposed. In the FGTT, the triboelectric charges in the layer created by contact electrification can be used to modulate charge carrier transport in the transistor. Based on the FGTTs and FETs, a tribotronic negated AND (NAND) gate that achieves mechanical-electrical coupled inputs, logic operations, and electrical level outputs is fabricated. By further integrating tribotronic NAND gates with traditional digital circuits, several basic units such as the tribotronic S-R trigger, D trigger, and T trigger have been demonstrated. Additionally, tribotronic sequential logic circuits such as registers and counters have also been integrated to enable external contact triggered storage and computation. In contrast to the conventional sequential logic units controlled by electrical signals, contact-triggered tribotronic sequential logic circuits are able to realize direct interaction and integration with the external environment. This development can lead to their potential application in micro/nano-sensors, electromechanical storage, interactive control, and intelligent instrumentation.

A triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is a simple and cost effective device that converts ambient mechanical energy into electricity based on the surface contact electrification of thin films. The limited surface charge density may affect the overall performance of the TENG. In this paper, a novel electret film based TENG (E-TENG) fabricated by corona charging is proposed that greatly enhances the effective surface charge density of the thin films as compared to those subjected to contact electrification. The short-circuit current, transferred electric charge density, and open-circuit voltage of the E-TENG have been investigated, using different corona charging voltages, pinpoint distances and times in order to explore the optimum experimental conditions. The short-circuit current, transferred electric charge density, and open-circuit voltage of the E-TENG are found to be about seven times larger than those of the ordinary polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) film based TENG. Based on corona charging, several multilayered E-TENGs have been fabricated, and the short-circuit current, transferred electric charge density, and open-circuit voltage of the E-TENGs with different number of layers are studied for achieving optimal performances. This work offers an effective approach for improving the effective surface charge density and thereby increasing the output capability of the TENG, which would greatly promote TENG applications in self-powered portable electronics and sensor networks.