Waste polyethylene-coated fabrics for dual-mode interfaces triboelectrification for self-powered sensors
Kushal Ruthvik Kaja, Sugato Hajra, Swati Panda, Mohamed Ahmed Belal, Sangwoo Nam, Phakkhananan Pakawanit, Basanta K. Panigrahi, Hamideh Khanbareh, Chris Bowen, Jaesok Yu, Hoe Joon Kim
Abstract
The reuse of waste cotton textiles and coating them with recycled polyethylene provides a route to improve environmental sustainability, reducing our landfill burden and supporting the circular economy through effective implementation of the 3Rs: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. This approach extends material life and minimizes resource consumption. This study presents a sustainable strategy for energy harvesting and sensor applications by repurposing worn-out cotton textiles that are coated with recycled polyethylene via a simple immersion method. The modified textiles are integrated into two triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) configurations: a solid–solid TENG (S–S TENG) and a liquid–solid TENG (L–S TENG). The S–S TENG, paired with a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer, achieves a peak output of 250 V, 1.01 µA, and a power output of 83.7 µW at 2 Hz when subject to a 5 N compression. The device exhibits long-term stability and charges a 10 µF capacitor to 3.3 V, with sufficient energy to power light-emitting diodes (LEDs). For the L–S TENG, deionised water droplets interacting with the polyethylene-coated surface generate up to 45 nW for a 50 MΩ load, with a saturated charge of 1.3 nC. When used as a sensor, the device is employed in real-time motion tracking, integrated with an artificial neural network, and in milk adulteration detection. These results demonstrate a low-cost, flexible, and eco-friendly platform for multifunctional energy harvesting and self-powered sensing, advancing circular economy principles and enabling new applications in healthcare, food safety, and wearable electronics.