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Underwater communication, despite constant development, still remains a challenging technology. Here, authors report an underwater wireless communication approach based on the triboelectric nanogenerator, which provides a self-powered communication system in complex underwater environments.

Appropriate triboelectric material selection is vital to for high performance direct current triboelectric nanogenerator (DC-TENG). The authors here provide effective selection rules as guideline to select triboelectric materials for DC-TENG to reduce the trial-and-error cost for DC-TENG’s research.

Commercial solutions to assess air quality and safety in underground mines often suffer from low accuracy, high installation and maintenance costs, without providing data on noxious gases. Here, the authors present a wireless, battery-free sensing platform for environmental monitoring of underground mines.

Performance of triboelectric nanogenerators is primarily restricted by contact electrification, air breakdown, and dielectric breakdown effects. Here, field emission and its limitation for triboelectric nanogenerators performance are investigated.

Performance of triboelectric nanogenerators is limited by electrostatic breakdown. Here, the spontaneously established reverse electric field is introduced to restrict the side-discharge problem caused by electrostatic breakdown, leading to a high Coulombic efficiency and enhanced output power.

In-situ harvesting of wave energy can provide a continuous energy supply for oceanic unmanned equipment. Here, the authors develop a pendulum-based nanogenerator that efficiently converts disordered waves into electricity for self-powered, distributed marine monitoring networks.

Triboelectric nanogenerators may benefit Internet-of-Things era energy demands, but application is hindered by low charge density. Here the authors maximize charge density in ambient conditions and achieve stable power generation in a triboelectric nanogenerator that can realize external and self-excitation.

Effective energy management is essential to enable triboelectric nanogenerators for realistic applications. Here, the authors optimize TENG and switch configurations to improve energy conversion efficiency and design a TENG-based power supply with energy storage and output regulation functionalities.

Improving the output performance of sliding mode triboelectric nanogenerators is a great challenge. Herein, a space charge accumulation effect, based on alternating shielding and blank-tribo areas, is demonstrated and effectively promotes charge density output.

Surface charge density is a key factor for developing high performance triboelectric nanogenerators. Herein, authors establish criteria to quantitatively evaluate the contact efficiency and air breakdown model on charge excitation triboelectric nanogenerators to maximize output charge density.

Low power output and poor sensing ability are bottlenecks for the practical application of fabric-based triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). The authors develop a shape adaptable and highly resilient 3D braided TENG, which is endowed with enhanced power output and improved pressure sensitivity.

Determining the triboelectric charge and energy density of dielectric materials is generally limited by many factors, failing to reflect their intrinsic behaviour. Here, a standardized strategy is proposed employing contact-separation TENG and supressing air-breakdown to assess max triboelectric charge and energy densities leading to an updated triboelectric series.

High-speed electrostatic micromotors with low energy consumption are attractive for small-scale electromechanical systems, but applications are limited by power supplies. Here the authors use a triboelectric nanogenerator for actuation of a high-speed micromotor by low-frequency mechanical stimuli.

Intelligent sensing technologies gain interest for the internet of things and applications that require collection and analysis of big data. Here the authors report a flexible and durable wood-based triboelectric nanogenerator for self-powered sensing in athletic big data analytics.

Arising from contact electrification and electrostatic breakdown, DC triboelectric nanogenerators are a promising solution to the air breakdown bottleneck in conventional TENGs. Here, authors reveal and regulate three discharge domains enhancing the device output power by an order of magnitude.

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) convert mechanical energy into electric power by combining contact electrification and electrostatic induction. This Primer introduces the theoretical background of TENGs, gives an overview of fabrication methods and discusses how they can be applied as energy harvesting devices and self-powered systems.

Power management systems are urgently needed for maximally utilizing the energy generated from triboelectric energy devices. Here, the authors report a fractal-designed switched-capacitor-convertor as a high efficiency power management strategy for triboelectric nanogenerators.

This research develops a direct-current triboiontronic nanogenerator by dynamically controlling asymmetric electrical double layer formation, achieving a transferred charge density of 412.54 mC/m². Incorporating redox reactions enhances the peak power and charge density to 38.64 W/m² and 540.70 mC/m².

The protein corona formed on nanoparticles can impact bioactivity. Here the authors show that the protein corona on lipid nanoparticles alters their function and reduces transfection efficiency, showing the importance of considering the protein corona in designing lipid nanoparticle-based therapeutics.

Using experimental and atomistic simulations, the authors show that optical excitation lowers the energy barrier for domain wall motion. Combined with the imprint field, this effect enables subsecond optical control of domain switching in ferroelectric membranes.

Kinematic sensors are required in many industrial applications, but the current sensor designs rely on power input from external sources. Here, Jing et al.harness the micro-meso scale ambient energy via a triboelectric generator to self-power sensors for one- and two-dimensional motion vector sensing.

Filtering capacitors are essential to smooth high voltage alternating current lines but are typically limited to hundreds of volts. Here, the authors demonstrate an aqueous hybrid electrochemical capacitor that can exhibit an operating voltage of 1,000 V when assembled into a device of 670 units.

The authors combine the strong confinement of hyperbolic polaritons with leaky nano-waveguides to demonstrate directional in-plane emission of fast phonon polaritons and their acceleration and deceleration by tailoring waveguide dispersion.

Light can control neural activity but often requires genetic modification. Here, the authors present a graphene-based platform for non-genetic light controlled neuronal stimulation, enabling all-optical network analysis, stem cell derived neuron maturation, and closed-loop robotics.

Porous graphene integrated into graphene oxide membranes yields smart molecular sieves that switch separation based on the solvent. This allows for graded separations of different-sized molecules.

Textiles that can convert mechanical energy into electricity are attractive for wearable electronic devices, but application is hindered by stability, flexibility, and stretchability. Here the authors report scalable fabrication for a stretchable triboelectric yarn that is operational under water.

To better understand the etiology of frailty, the authors perform a large genetic study. They identified 45 additional variants and implicated MET, CHST9, ILRUN, APOE, CGREF1 and PPP6C as potential causal genes, linking frailty to immune regulation, metabolism and cellular signaling.

In this work, authors convert fallen leaves into energy harvesters using hygroscopic iron hydrogel, achieving continuous power generation from moisture. The device delivers high current density and power output with potential for lower environmental impact compared to alternative harvesters.

The relationship between pathogenic germline variation, clonal hematopoiesis (CH) and risk of hematologic malignancy is explored in 731,835 individuals across 6 cohorts. Carriers of variants in certain genes show distinct patterns of CH and increased risk of CH progression to malignancy.

Circadian clocks enable organisms to anticipate daily cycles, while being robust to molecular and environmental noise. Here, Eremina et al. show how the cyanobacterial clock buffers genetic and environmental perturbations through its core phosphorylation loop, and demonstrate that known clock regulators are dispensable for clock robustness.

Adrenergic and muscarinic receptors are key GPCRs involved in vital functions. Here, the authors engineer toxin variants that selectively target α2A and M4AChR, offering new tools and therapeutic leads through a structure-guided design strategy.