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Article
Air Flow-Driven Triboelectric Nanogenerators for
Self-Powered Real-Time Respiratory Monitoring
Meng Wang, Jiahao Zhang, Yingjie Tang, Jun Li, Baosen
Zhang, Erjun Liang, Yanchao Mao, and Xudong Wang
ACS Nano, Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.8b02562 • Publication Date (Web): 30 May 2018
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Air Flow-Driven Triboelectric Nanogenerators for
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Self-Powered Real-Time Respiratory Monitoring
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16 Meng Wang,† Jiahao Zhang,† Yingjie Tang,† Jun Li,‡ Baosen Zhang,† Erjun Liang,†
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Yanchao Mao,*,† and Xudong Wang*,‡
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23 MOE Key Laboratory of Materials Physics, School of Physics and Engineering, Zhengzhou
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University, Zhengzhou 450001, China
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29 Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison,
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31 WI 53706, USA
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34 E-mail: ymao@zzu.edu.cn, xudong@engr.wisc.edu
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41 ABSTRACT: Respiration is one of the most important vital signs of human, and respiratory
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43 monitoring plays an important role in physical health management. A low-cost and convenient
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45 real-time respiratory monitoring system is extremely desirable. In this work, we demonstrated an
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48 air flow driven triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) for self-powered real-time respiratory
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50 monitoring by converting mechanical energy of human respiration into electric output signals.
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52 The operation of the TENG was based on the air flow driven vibration of a flexible
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55 nanostructured PTFE (n-PTFE) thin film in an acrylic tube. This TENG can generate distinct
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3 real-time electric signals when exposed to the air flow from different breath behaviors. It was
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6 also found that the accumulative charge transferred in breath sensing well corresponds to the
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8 total volume of air exchanged during the respiration process. Based on this TENG device, an
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10 intelligent wireless respiratory monitoring and alert system was further developed, which used
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the TENG signal to directly trigger a wireless alarm or dial a cell phone to provide timely alerts
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15 in response to breath behavior change. This research offers a promising solution for developing
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17 self-powered real-time respiratory monitoring devices.
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22 KEYWORDS: triboelectric nanogenerator; PTFE; mechanical energy harvesting; self-powered
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24 electronics; respiration monitoring
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Real-time bio-monitoring has attracted tremendous attention in modern healthcare systems
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32 owing to the capability of instantaneously providing physical health status, early disease alert,
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34 and therapeutic treatments.1-3 Such advanced systems have been applied to monitoring heart
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36 beating rates,4 arterial pulse,5 blood pressure,6 and respiration.7 Among them, respiration pattern
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39 is one of the most widely used human vital information for personal health management. Current
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41 real-time respiratory monitoring devices are typically built on the principle of capacitive sensing,
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43 which are often associated with complex structure, large volume, and high cost, and thus are not
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very accessible for regular daily using.8,9 In addition, as most other healthcare systems, these
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48 respiratory monitoring devices operate based on conventional batteries or external power sources,
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50 restricting the portability. Miniaturization and high-level user-friendliness are highly desired for
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the next generation real-time respiratory monitoring systems.
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3 Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), as an emerging technology for harvesting mechanical
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6 energy and generating electricity, have attracted great interests in recent years due to their
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8 portability, facile fabrication, low cost, and excellent adaptability.10-14 The working mechanism
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10 of a TENG is based on the coupling of triboelectric friction and electric induction.15 When two
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triboelectric materials with different electron-attracting abilities contact each other, surface
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15 charge transfer will be induced. The periodical contact and separation of the two charged
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17 surfaces will drive electrons flow through an external circuit and produce electric output signals.
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In this regard, if an air flow is used to induce harmonic vibration of a flexible triboelectric
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22 material and thus to create periodic contact/separation with another triboelectric material,
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24 mechanical energy from the air flow can be harvested and converted into electricity. Recent
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26 research has shown that using this configuration, TENGs were able to convert wind energy into
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29 electric energy for powering light-emitting diodes (LEDs).16-19 In addition to serve as a power
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31 supply, the electricity from TENGs could also be directly processed as a responsive signal to
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33 realize self-powered sensing, such as pressure sensors,20 vibration sensors,21 speed sensors,22
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chemical sensors,23 and body motion sensors.24 Therefore, an air flow driven TENG is promising
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38 to be used in self-powered real-time respiratory monitoring. In this paper, we report a
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40 development of flexible TENG that is driven by the air flow from human respiration. The TENG
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was able to generate highly responsive electric signals in corresponding of different breathing
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45 states and patterns. This TENG-based system thus provided a quantitative measure of the
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47 breathing behavior without any additional power. By connecting with a transmitter and signal
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49 processor, we also demonstrated a wireless data transmit system enabling a remote and real-time
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52 respiratory monitoring. This work demonstrated a promising solution for self-powered real-time
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54 respiratory monitoring as a highly portable and accessible healthcare module.
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6 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
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8 The flexible TENG film was fabricated based on a nanostructured PTFE (n-PTFE) thin film
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10 (Figure 1a) (fabrication details are included in the experimental section). The n-PTFE film is
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composed of a large number of nanofibers intertwined together, which yielded a very high
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15 porosity and extremely large surfaces inside and on the surface of the PTFE film. The n-PTFE
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17 thin film offered significantly enlarged contact area and surface area for charge transfer and
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induction, and thus was favorable for triboelectric electricity output. The high porosity feature of
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22 the n-PTFE film also yielded a low film density and was desired for flow-driven oscillation.25
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24 The design of the n-PTFE-based TENG is schematically shown in Figure 1b, and a photo of the
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26 device is shown in the inset. A very thin Cu film was attached onto the upper surface of the n-
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29 PTFE film for charge collection. One end of the n-PTFE film was affixed at the middle of an
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31 acrylic tube. The bottom surface of the acrylic tube was attached with another Cu electrode.
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33 When air flows into the acrylic tube, the PTFE thin film could be agitated to oscillation and
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make constant contact/separation with the bottom Cu electrode in the acrylic tube. The
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38 oscillation behavior of the n-PTFE/Cu film under an air flow rate of 120 L/min was captured
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40 using a high-speed camera and the sequential images are shown in Figure 1c (the dynamic
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process can be seen in Video S1 in the Supporting Information). The oscillation frequency was
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45 ~120 Hz. No adhesion was observed in the oscillation process, suggesting the excellent
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47 mechanical behavior of the n-PTFE/Cu film. It also confirmed the non-adhesive oscillations with
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49 minimal influences from the physical contact and charge transfer. Figure 1d and e illustrate the
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52 corresponding output voltage and current of the n-PTFE film. The average peak values of the
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54 output voltage and current reached 2.4 V and 1.7 µA, respectively. As shown in the insets of
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3 Figure 1d and e, the voltage and current output signals produced in one cycle exhibited a similar
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6 pattern. The short and nearly symmetric peak profiles further confirmed the excellent mechanical
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8 responses of the n-PTFE film with minimal hysteresis. The effective output performance of the
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10 TENG was further evaluated by connecting a series of loading resistors as external loads (Figure
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S1). The maximum output power of the TENG reached 1.3 mW at a load resistance of 15.1 MΩ.
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15 The electricity generation process of the TENG was further analyzed in one cycle (Figure 2a).
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17 When the surfaces of the PTFE thin film and the bottom Cu electrode come in contact with each
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other, triboelectric charges will be generated due to the different triboelectric polarizations of
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22 PTFE and Cu.26,27 Negative and positive electrostatic charges are thus generated on the surfaces
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24 of PTFE and Cu, respectively (step i). Once the air flow induces oscillation of the PTFE film,
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26 separation from the Cu electrode establishes an electric potential difference, which drives
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29 electrons flow from the backside of the PTFE thin film to the bottom Cu electrode through an
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31 external load, generating a positive output current (step ii). The current reaches the maximum at
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33 the largest separation point (step iii). When the negative charges on the PTFE thin film are fully
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compensated by the induced positive charges on its backside, current quickly drops back to zero
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38 (step iv). As the PTFE film moves back toward the bottom Cu electrode, the raising electric field
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40 drives electrons from the bottom Cu electrode to the backside of the PTFE film, producing a
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reverse output current signal in the external circuit (steps v, vi) until a new balance is established
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45 (step i). To support this proposed mechanism, corresponding electric potential between the PTFE
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47 film and the bottom Cu electrode at the six steps were simulated using the COMSOL software
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49 (Figure 2b). The electric potential distribution was calculated under the ideal open circuit
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52 condition, i.e. no external electron flow. It reveals the potential difference between the PTFE thin
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54 film and the bottom Cu electrode increased with their separation distance. Under the short circuit
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3 measurement condition, such potential differences will drive electrons flow between the top and
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6 bottom Cu electrodes to neutralize the potential difference, generating an alternating current
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8 output in the external circuit. The recorded output current of a full contact-separation cycle was
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10 depicted in Figure 2c. Each step along the current pattern is marked accordingly with Figure 2a
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and b. The number of transferred charge was calculated by the integral area of the I-t curve in
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15 Figure 2c. As illustrated in Figure 2d, from point i to iv, the net charge transfer increased from 0
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separating state. From point iv to vi, the net charge started decreasing, representing a backward
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22 charge flow. When maximally contacting was reached again, the net charge dropped back to zero,
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26 The influence of air flow rate on the electrical output was then investigated. The output
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29 voltage and current measured from the TENG at different air flow rates are shown in Figure 3a
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31 and b, respectively. Both output voltages and currents exhibited a fairly constant alternating
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33 values under given air flow rate. The average peak values of output voltage and current raised
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monotonically from 1.7 to 11.1 V and 0.9 to 10.2 µA, respectively when the air flow rate
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38 increased from 85 to 216 L/min (Figure 3a and b). The air flow rate of 85 L/min is the US
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40 standard required rate for the test of a respirator. The effect of humidity on the TENG
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performance was also investigated as shown in Figure S2. When the relative humidity increased
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45 from 50 to 90%, the average peak values of output voltage and current decreased from 1.5 to 0.4
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47 V and 0.8 to 0.2 µA, respectively. This confirmed that the TENG would be able to deliver
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49 appropriate responses under highly humid conditions during normal human respiration. To
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52 demonstrate the capability as a power source, the air flow-driven TENG was used to charge a
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54 commercial capacitor (4.7 µF) through a bridge circuit. The equivalent circuit for capacitor
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3 charging is given in the inset of Figure 3c. The alternating current (AC) output of the TENG was
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6 converted to a direct current (DC) output through the bridge circuit (Figure S3). The charging
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8 process of the capacitor under different air flow rates were shown in Figure 3c. It can be clearly
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equilibrium between the capacitor leakage rate and charging rate of the TENG. The voltage held
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15 by the capacitor reached 19.9 V in 150 s under the air flow rate of 216 L/min. The electric
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flow rate of 120 L/min, as shown in Figure 3d and Video S2.
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22 The highly sensitive responses of the n-PTFE TENG allowed direct generation of electricity in
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24 response to the air flow from human respiration. Such electric signals could be used as a real-
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26 time display of human respiration patterns. As a demonstration, the TENG was embedded in a
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29 conventional medical mask (inset of Figure 4a). When the mask was put up, normal breath
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31 would induce air flow through the acrylic channel where the n-PTEF TENG is installed and
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33 electric output would be generated accordingly. The working principle of the TENG for real-time
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monitoring respiration is based on measuring the air flow of exhalation process. This
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38 measurement method is same as the standard pulmonary function test (PFT), which has been
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40 generally used in current medical diagnosis. During the inhalation process, the flexible PTFE
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thin film was lying on the wall of the acrylic channel, leaving the half channel open for air inlet
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45 to ensure minimal impact to inhalation. Therefore, our analysis was focused on the exhalation
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47 process. The electric signals were recorded under four different breathing patterns including slow,
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49 rapid, shallow, and deep breath. As shown in Figure 4, it can be clearly seen that
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52 different breath patterns generated distinguishing electric output features. Slow breathing has a
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54 lower frequency, which is usually found from a calm and relaxed situation, such as sleep. It
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3 generated desecrated groups of AC voltage peaks with a group width of 0.2 s (Figure 4a). The
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6 detailed feature of a voltage group is shown in Figure 4e. The peak voltage gradually peaked at
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10 period, matching well to the slow breathing air flow pattern. Compared to the slow breathing,
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rapid breathing has a higher rate. It generated more groups of voltage peaks than the slow
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15 breathing within the same time frame (Figure 4b). As shown in Figure 4f, the width of a peak
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Shallow breathing is usually found from a coma situation. It has a similar frequency with the
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22 slow breathing but with a much shallower depth. The shallow breathing exhibited a weak voltage
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24 pattern with the peak value of 0.2 V and a similar group width of about 0.2 s, as shown in Figure
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26 4c. The enlarged one voltage group shown in Figure 4g revealed a slow raising of the peak
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29 voltage and a gradual drop after peaking at the 2/3 of the envelop. The deep breathing had the
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33 output within one envelope of 1.3 s (Figure 4d). The detailed feature showed a rapid rise of the
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voltage at the beginning and a more steady high voltage in the initial 2/3 of the period. The
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38 distinct voltage envelop patterns allow direct recognition of human breath behavior, which is
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In addition to distinguishing the breath patterns, the electric signals produced by the n-PTFE
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45 TENG could also be used to quantify the volume of air flow during breath, which is another
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47 important vital information for patients with respiratory disease, such as asthma and emphysema.
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49 Figure 5a shows the output current signal generated by one deep exhalation. The amount of
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52 accumulative charge was calculated by integrating the absolute area of the I-t curve. As shown
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54 by the blue curve in Figure 5b, the accumulative transferred charge gradually increased as a
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function of time and then reached a plateau of 0.18 µC. The volume of air transported during the
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6 exhalation process was measured by an electric spirometer, and plotted as a function of time
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8 (pink curve in Figure 5b). The accumulative charge and air volume exhibited a very good match
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10 along the entire time domain. This good match could be attributed to the high sensitive of TENG,
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13 which allowed it to be activated under a broad range of air flow rates. Therefore, the total
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15 amount of transferred charge detected by the TENG can provide a reliable measure of the
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17 volume of air exchanged during respiration.
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20 Based on the advanced respiration monitoring capability, we further developed an intelligent
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22 wireless respiratory monitoring and alert system by integrating the n-PTFE TENG, a signal
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24 processing circuit, a wireless transmitter, an alarm, and a cell phone. In this system, the TENG
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could send the electric signal in response to different breath pattern without any additional power
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29 source. Once the breath pattern or volume reached a critical situation (e.g. no breath for more
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31 than 5 s), the alarm were triggered through a wireless module and a warning massage was sent to
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33 the cell phone providing timely alerts (Figure S4 and 5, Video S3 and 4). This demonstration
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36 showed the capability of using n-PTFE TENG as a self-powered real-time respiratory monitoring
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38 device, which can provide electric signals readily integratable with comprehensive signal
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40 processing and communication systems.
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45 CONCLUSIONS
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47 In summary, we successfully developed an air flow-driven TENG for self-powered real-time
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respiratory monitoring by converting the mechanical energy of human respiration into electric
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52 signals. The TENG was built on a flexible n-PTFE thin film, and the operation principle was
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54 based on the beam oscillation phenomenon under laminar air flow. The n-PTFE TENG exhibited
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3 a sensitive electric signal output in response to different air flow rates. Therefore, when a n-
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6 PTFE TENG was installed in a regular mask, it was able to provide a real-time display of
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8 different breathing patterns. Integrating the total amount of charge transferred during one
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10 exhalation process showed an excellent match to volume of air transported through the device,
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providing a quantitative measure of the breathing behavior. The real-time electric signal
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15 generated by this TENG device could be directly integrated with a wireless transmitter and signal
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17 processor, enabling an intelligent health monitor system. This TENG device has a simple
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structure and is highly responsive to low-speed air flow. It opened opportunities for developing
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22 self-powered vital information monitoring systems.
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26 EXPERIMENTAL SECTION
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29 Fabrication of the TENG: The n-PTFE thin film was fabricated by using a biaxial stretching
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31 method. The PTFE powder (CD123, Asahi Fluoropolymers Co.) was mixed with the lubricant of
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33 25 wt% naphtha. An extruder was used to extrude the mixture into a rod with the diameter of 13
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mm. The rod was then rolled between two metal rollers to be a sheet in atmosphere at 160 °C.
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38 The sheet was biaxially stretched at 170 °C with a constant rate, and then the stretched film was
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40 annealed in atmosphere at 330 °C. The n-PTFE thin film was obtained after cooling to room
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temperature. An acrylic tube with inner dimensions of 5.5 × 2 × 1 cm was made by a laser cutter.
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45 A piece of PTFE thin film was attached with a Cu foil to be one electrode. One end of the
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47 PTFE/Cu electrode was affixed onto the middle plane of the acrylic tube, resulting in the other
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49 end free-standing. Another Cu electrode was fixed on the bottom surface of the acrylic tube.
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52 Characterization and measurement: The surface morphology of the PTFE thin film was
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54 characterized by a ZEISS Sigma 500 scanning electron microscope (SEM). An electric blower
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3 with adjustable speed was used to provide the air flow. The dynamic vibration process of the
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6 PTFE/Cu film was captured by a high-speed camera (BASLER aca1920). The output voltage and
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8 current of the TENG were measured by a Keithley 6514 system electrometer (1 MΩ internal
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10 resistant).
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15 ASSOCIATED CONTENT
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17 Supporting Information
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The Supporting Information is available free of charge on the ACS Publications website.
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22 The output voltage, current, and power versus different load resistances; the output voltage and
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24 current signals recorded under different relative humidity; the rectified output voltage; an
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26 intelligent wireless respiratory monitoring and alert system; the detailed circuit diagram of the
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29 SCM; supporting videos S1-S4.
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33 AUTHOR INFORMATION
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Corresponding Author
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38 *E-mail: ymao@zzu.edu.cn
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40 *E-mail: xudong@engr.wisc.edu
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45 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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47 This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51503185), the
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49 National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering of the National Institutes of Health
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52 (R01EB021336), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2015M580636, 2016T90673), and
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54 Startup Research Fund of Zhengzhou University (1512317010).
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33 (14) Wang, M.; Zhang, N.; Tang, Y.; Zhang, H.; Ning, C.; Tian, L.; Li, W.; Zhang, J.; Mao, Y.;
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Liang, E. Single-Electrode Triboelectric Nanogenerators Based on Sponge-Like Porous
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38 PTFE Thin Films for Mechanical Energy Harvesting and Self-Powered Electronics. J.
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40 Mater. Chem. A 2017, 5, 12252-12257.
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47 (16) Yang, Y.; Zhu, G.; Zhang, H.; Chen, J.; Zhong, X.; Lin, Z. H.; Su, Y.; Bai, P.; Wen, X.;
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49 Wang, Z. L., Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Harvesting Wind Energy and as Self-Powered
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52 Wind Vector Sensor System. ACS Nano 2013, 7, 9461-9468.
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3 (17) Wang, X.; Wang, S.; Yang, Y.; Wang, Z. L., Hybridized Electromagnetic-Triboelectric
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8 Sensors. ACS Nano 2015, 9, 4553-62.
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10 (18) Wang, S.; Mu, X.; Wang, X.; Gu, A. Y.; Wang, Z. L.; Yang, Y., Elasto-Aerodynamics-
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Driven Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Scavenging Air-Flow Energy. ACS Nano 2015, 9,
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17 (19) Wang, J.; Zhang, H.; Xie, Y.; Yan, Z.; Yuan, Y.; Huang, L.; Cui, X.; Gao, M.; Su, Y.; Yang,
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W.; et al. Smart Network Node Based on Hybrid Nanogenerator for Self-Powered
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22 Multifunctional Sensing. Nano Energy 2017, 33, 418-426.
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24 (20) Zou, J.; Zhang, M.; Huang, J.; Bian, J.; Jie, Y.; Willander, M.; Cao, X.; Wang, N.; Wang, Z.
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26 L. Coupled Supercapacitor and Triboelectric Nanogenerator Boost Biomimetic Pressure
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29 Sensor. Adv. Energy. Mater. 2018, 8,1702671.
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33 Wang, Z. L. A Soft and Robust Spring Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Harvesting
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38 Mater. 2017, 8, 1702432.
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40 (22) Xi, Y.; Guo, H.; Zi, Y.; Li, X.; Wang, J.; Deng, J.; Li, S.; Hu, C.; Cao, X.; Wang, Z. L.
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Multifunctional TENG for Blue Energy Scavenging and Self-Powered Wind-Speed Sensor.
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49 Sensor Based on the Water-Air Triboelectric Nanogenerator. ACS Nano 2017, 11, 10337-
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24 Triboelectric Charge Density for Efficient Energy Harvesting. Nat. Commun. 2017, 8, 88.
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3 Figure 1. (a) SEM image of the n-PTFE thin film. (b) The schematic configuration of the air
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6 flow-driven TENG. Inset shows a photograph of the TENG device. (c) A series of high-speed
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8 camera photos showing different vibration stages of an oscillating PTFE thin film in an acrylic
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of 120 L/min. Insets depict the enlarged output signals during in one oscillation cycle.
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3 with different vibration stages. (d) Corresponding induced charge transfer calculated from the
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47 the TENG under different air flow rates. Inset shows the equivalent circuit. (d) Four commercial
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a 1.0
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