Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), a recently emerging technology that is based on the combination of triboelectrication and electrostatic induction, has been found to be a promising solution to harvest large amounts of underutilized and low-frequency mechanical energy and convert them to electricity. Our recent research interest mainly focuses on the design and fabrication of high-performance TENGs for energy harvesting and self-powered sensing. In this presentation, I will firstly introduce a couple of recent achievements regarding highly flexible and deformable TENGs based on different kinds of electrodes, including geometrically designed rigid electrode, liquid electrode and 3D printed compressible electrode, etc. Then, I would like to present the combination of TENGs with other functional devices, such as supercapacitor for self-charging powered package, solar cell or electromagnet generator for large-scale energy harvesting, as well as photoanodes for self-powered photoelectrochemical water splitting system. Lastly, I will illustrate two different concepts of TENG based self-powered sensing, including TENGs as self-powered sensors for actively detecting the static and dynamic processes arising from mechanical agitation, and impedance matching effect between TENGs and traditional sensors induced self-powered sensing process.

Xuhui Sun received his B. Sc. and M. Sc. degrees in chemistry from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, in 1993 and 1996, respectively, and Ph.D. degree in material science from the City University of Hong Kong in 2002. He performed postdoctoral research at University of Western Ontario in 2003 and joined NASA Ames Research Center in 2005 as a postdoctoral scholar. Before joined Institute of Nano Functional & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University in 2009 as a professor, he was a research scientist at Advanced Studies Lab, NASA Ames Research Center and adjunct assistant professor at Santa Clara University, CA. His research interests are focused in the area of the nanomaterials and their applications in nanoelectronics, sensors and energy harvesting. He is also interested in the development and application of synchrotron radiation techniques in nanomaterials study. He has published over 200 papers in high impact journals such as Chem. Rev., J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., Adv. Mater., ACS Nano, etc. and held 2 US patents, 3 PCT patents and 30 Chinese patents. His publications have been cited over 6000 times and H-index is 42. He is a senior member of IEEE and has served associate editor of IEEE Transaction on Nanotechnology and editor board member of Frontiers in Materials. He has been PI or co-PI of a number of projects from the nation basic research program (973 Program), the national high-tech R&D Program (863 Program) and National Science Foundation of China (NSFC).