Biodegradable single-electrode triboelectric nanogenerator for self-powered robotic texture sensingShow others and affiliations
2026 (English)In: Materials Chemistry Frontiers, E-ISSN 2052-1537, Vol. 10, no 14, p. 2322-2332Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Human tactile acuity relies on the microstructured morphology of the fingertips, which enables sensitive detection of fine surface features during object manipulation. While triboelectric-based self-powered object recognition has gained much attention, conventional triboelectric materials are typically non-biodegradable, contributing to persistent electronic waste. This work focuses on fabricating biodegradable triboelectric interfaces for intelligent robotic texture perception and sustainable energy harvesting. Three biodegradable polymers, polylactide (PLA), poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL), and poly(lactide-co-trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC), were evaluated as negative triboelectric layers against an aluminum electrode to form a single-electrode triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). The PCL/Al TENG achieved a superior electrical output of 118 V and 772 nA, with a peak power of 24.5 & micro;W at 200 M Omega, primarily due to its higher surface roughness enhancing charge transfer. The powering of the low-power electronics and charging of the capacitors using the TENG was demonstrated. In addition, the platform was integrated into a robotic gripper for real-time texture recognition. Combined with a convolutional neural network (CNN), the system achieved 96.9% classification accuracy across eight distinct textures. This sustainable platform reduces environmental impact by using degradable materials while maintaining the mechanical robustness required for advanced robotic sensing.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) , 2026. Vol. 10, no 14, p. 2322-2332
National Category
Robotics and automation Chemical Engineering
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-386219DOI: 10.1039/d6qm00202aISI: 001776327300001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105040071381OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-386219DiVA, id: diva2:2088571
Note
QC 20260728
2026-07-282026-07-282026-07-28Bibliographically approved