Large-Scale Nanofiber Manufacturing| Triboelectric tactile sensor for pressure andtemperature sensing in high-temperatureapplications

Ant-Inspired! Professor Nie Shuangxi Publishes Again in Nature Sub-Journal!

Research Background:
With the rapid development of artificial intelligence and robotics, tactile perception systems as key interfaces for intelligent robot-environment interaction are becoming increasingly important. While conventional tactile sensors work effectively at room temperature, they often fail in extreme environments like high temperatures, severely limiting robotic applications under special conditions. Triboelectric nanogenerator technology, with its unique working mechanism, provides innovative approaches for developing new environmentally adaptive tactile sensors.

In this technological innovation, paper-based triboelectric materials demonstrate unique advantages and broad application prospects. As an excellent triboelectric material, paper is not only renewable, biodegradable and biocompatible, but more importantly, the abundant hydroxyl groups on β-D-glucopyranose rings in its molecular structure give it exceptional polarization properties and intrinsic high-temperature resistance. These characteristics make paper-based triboelectric materials irreplaceable for high-temperature tactile sensing, potentially becoming ideal alternatives to traditional petroleum-based synthetic polymers, offering new material foundations and technical solutions for high-temperature tactile perception challenges.

Article Overview:
Recently, Liu Yanhua et al. from Guangxi University designed an extreme-environment-adaptive triboelectric sensor surpassing human tactile perception. Using thermally stable cellulose triboelectric materials, they created an asymmetric structure capable of independent dual-signal output, achieving parallel pressure and thermal stimulation sensing at high temperatures. Titled "Triboelectric tactile sensor for pressure and temperature sensing in high-temperature applications," this work was published in Nature Communications. Guangxi University is the sole completing institution, with 2022 PhD candidate Liu Yanhua as first author, Professor Nie Shuangxi as corresponding author, and contributions from Wang Jinlong, Liu Tao, Wei Zhiting, Luo Bin, Chi Mingchao, Zhang Song, Cai Chenchen, Gao Cong, Zhao Tong and others.

Graphical Guide:

1.Bionic Inspiration for Triboelectric Sensor
The Saharan silver ant, an insect maintaining multisensory perception in high-temperature environments, inspired the design of tactile sensors for extreme conditions. Human skin similarly distinguishes mechanical and thermal stimuli through mechano- and thermoreceptors for spatiotemporal recognition, ensuring safe human-environment interaction. When skin deforms under mechanical force or temperature stimuli, corresponding ion channels open, creating physiological electrical signals. This inspired the design of an extreme-environment-adaptive pressure/temperature-responsive triboelectric sensor leveraging charge transfer under external stimuli.

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of bionic principle.

2.Design of Extreme-Environment-Adaptive Triboelectric Tactile Sensor
The sensor consists of a pressure-sensitive triboelectric nanogenerator (P-TENG) and temperature-sensitive triboelectric nanogenerator (T-TENG). The multimodal sensor avoids force interference through T-TENG's limited contact area and shields thermal interference via bilayer structure and thermally stable materials. Each single-electrode-mode sensor layer generates independent signals, enabling clear, interference-free acquisition and differentiation of tactile and temperature signals, demonstrating sensitivity and high-temperature resistance for multiple stimulus responses in extreme environments. Miniaturized sensors assembled on robotic fingers via laser-printed flexible stretchable electrodes demonstrate applications in multimodal object perception and feedback.

Figure 2. Extreme-environment adaptive pressure/temperature responsive triboelectric sensor surpassing human tactile perception.

3.Pressure Response Behavior
A two-step encapsulation strategy created structurally asymmetric bilayer sensors for simultaneous pressure/temperature detection. Asymmetric elastic silicone shells enable rapid pressure response. Sensors of different sizes showed linearly increasing triboelectric performance with size. P-TENG exhibited 70 ms compression and 58 ms recovery response times, far faster than human tactile response (139 ms). Below 8.36 kPa, sensitivity reached 9.21 kPa−1. After 2000 cycles at 200°C, output remained stable, proving durability.

Figure 3. Pressure sensing.

4.Temperature Response Behavior
Using thermally stable flat cellulose film and FEP as triboelectric materials, temperature stimuli caused disordered charge dissipation, reducing output voltage. T-TENG showed 0.997 linearity and pressure insensitivity. Signals varied consistently with temperature, with highly reproducible outputs during heating-cooling cycles, proving real-time environmental adaptability. T-TENG's 25-200°C range surpasses human skin and prior self-powered temperature sensors, enabling extreme-environment applications.

Figure 4. Temperature sensing.

5.Pressure-Temperature Multimodal Sensing
Practical applications require simultaneous independent detection with low cross-interference. P-TENG showed <0.4% temperature cross-coupling error; T-TENG showed <3.2% pressure cross-coupling error. Characteristic matrices enabled stable decoupling. Real-time responses in complex scenarios validated low cross-sensitivity.

Figure 5. Pressure-temperature decoupling and bimodal sensing in a single triboelectric sensor.

6.Real-Time Object Recognition in High Temperatures
Sensors integrated on robotic fingertips formed an intelligent tactile system for unknown object recognition. Remotely controlled robotic motions provided distributed tactile feedback, enabling hazardous task execution. Different objects produced distinct signals. Combined with neural networks, the system achieved 94% recognition accuracy.

Figure 6. Tactile perception in high-temperature environments.

Conclusion:
This work demonstrates an extreme-environment pressure/temperature-responsive triboelectric tactile sensor surpassing human perception. Based on triboelectric nanogenerator technology using thermally stable cellulose materials, its asymmetric structure enables independent dual-signal output for multiple stimulus responses at high temperatures. The self-powered device achieves real-time digital responses without external power, with scalable size adjustability. Machine learning integration further enables accurate shape/temperature recognition in high-temperature environments. This self-powered multimodal sensing system provides design concepts for advanced human-machine interaction, though multidisciplinary integration remains needed for complex extreme-environment applications.