Self-powered wearable triboelectric nanogenerator based on MXene/ chitosan/carbon nanotube layered composite film

This study developed a high-performance flexible triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) for self-powered wearable health monitoring by layer-by-layer assembly of MXene (Ti 3 C 2 T x , V 2 CT x ), chitosan (CS), and carbon nanotubes (CNTs).An innovative strategy was proposed to diminish MXene interlayer stacking via a two-step vacuum filtration method. A Ti 3 C 2 T x /CNT-V 2 CT x /CNT(TCVC) composite film with a hierarchical porous structure are synthesized to significantly enhance interfacial bonding strength and charge transfer efficiency. The open-circuit voltage (V oc ) 117.06 V and short-circuit current (I sc ) of 1.93 μA of TENG are realized by utilizing the synergistic effect of high electronegativity of MXene, conductive network of CNT and biocompatible crosslinking of CS. Systematic characterization demonstrated the optimized TCVC-TENG exhibits mechanical durability (>6000 cycles, <3 % decay), high sensitivity (9.84 V·N −1 at 0.1 N), rapid response/recovery times (170 ms/150 ms), and environmental robustness (20–80 °C). The sensor is applied to human health monitoring, which can continuously detect joint flexion amplitude, laryngeal vibration frequency and gait dynamics, thus realizing real-time assessment of physiological conditions. This work provides a scalable and cost-effective strategy for designing multifunctional self-powered wearable sensors with potential applications in Parkinson's disease early warning, athlete performance tracking, and personalized healthcare.