A Sustainable Free-Standing Triboelectric Nanogenerator Made of Flexible Composite Film for Brake Pattern Recognition in Automobiles

In recent years, the automotive industry has made significant progress in integrating multifunctional sensors to improve vehicle performance, safety, and efficiency. As the number of integrated sensors keeps increasing, there is a growing interest in alternative energy sources. Specifically, self-powered sensor systems based on energy harvesting are drawing much attention, with a main focus on sustainability and reducing reliance on typical batteries. This paper demonstrates the use of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) in a computer mouse for efficient energy harvesting and in automobile braking systems for safety applications using SrBi₂Ta₂O₉ (SBTO) perovskite, blended PDMS composite operating in free-standing mode with an interdigitated patterned aluminum electrode. This self-powered sensor is capable of distinguishing between normal and abnormal braking patterns using digital signal processing techniques. It is noteworthy that the addition of 15% wt. of the SBTO in PDMS composite-based TENG delivered 13.5 V, 45 nA, and an output power of 0.98 µW. This new combination of energy harvesting and safety applications enables real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance in the automotive industry.