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. 2024 Mar 3;14(5):463.
doi: 10.3390/nano14050463.

Fish Scale for Wearable, Self-Powered TENG

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Fish Scale for Wearable, Self-Powered TENG

Liwei Zhao et al. Nanomaterials (Basel). .

Abstract

Flexible and wearable devices are attracting more and more attention. Herein, we propose a self-powered triboelectric nanogenerator based on the triboelectric effect of fish scales. As the pressure on the nanogenerator increases, the output voltage of the triboelectric nanogenerator increases. The nanogenerator can output a voltage of 7.4 V and a short-circuit current of 0.18 μA under a pressure of 50 N. The triboelectric effect of fish scales was argued to be related to the lamellar structure composed of collagen fiber bundles. The nanogenerator prepared by fish scales can sensitively perceive human activities such as walking, finger tapping, and elbow bending. Moreover, fish scales are a biomass material with good biocompatibility with the body. The fish-scale nanogenerator is a kind of flexible, wearable, and self-powered triboelectric nanogenerator showing great prospects in healthcare and body information monitoring.

Keywords: collagen; fish scale; hydrogen bond; triboelectric effect; triboelectric nanogenerators.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a) The processes of fish scale demineralization and self-powered TENG fabrication. Photos of (b) the discarded fish scales, (c) a demineralized fish scale, and (d) a fish-scale-based TENG.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(ac) SEM of cross-section images, (d) XRD pattern, (e) Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, (f) Raman spectroscopy, (g) dielectric constant and loss, (h) ferroelectric diagram, and (i) electrogenic strain diagram of a demineralized fish scale.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Schematic diagram of fish scale microstructure and the origin of spontaneous polarization as indicated by an arrow.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The front (a) and back (b) output voltage of the fish-scale TENG under different stresses. (c) Comparison of the front and back voltages under different pressures. The stability of the output voltage (d) and current (e) under a constant pressure of 50 N. (f) The fish-scale TENG charges different capacitors.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Working principle diagram of the fish-scale TENG.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The output signals of the fish-scale TENG used to detect the human activities of thumb pressing (ac), elbow bending (df), and walking (gi).

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