Biomass-based wearable and Self-powered pressure sensor for human motion detection

[Display omitted] •A novel self-powered pressure sensor based on triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) was designed.•Biomass-based bacterial cellulose/chitosan composites and copper nanoparticles-doped polydimethylsiloxane films were acted as tribopositive and tribonegative material, respectively.•The TENG presented stable output performance after 1000 cycles and a pressure sensitivity of 0.24 V kPa−1.•Triboelectric materials could be attached to body parts to monitor joints motion in sport. Flexible pressure sensor has recently attracted tremendous attention in wearable electronics. A self-powered active pressure sensor was constructed with biomass-based bacterial cellulose/chitosan (BC/CS) composites and copper nanoparticles-doped polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS/Cu) film as positive and negative triboelectric layers, respectively. The triboelectric performance was optimized when BC/CS membrane (BC/CSM) and 3 wt% PDMS/Cu film were selected as triboelectric pair. The triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) exhibited excellent mechanical stability and pressure sensitivity of 0.24 V kPa−1 in the range of 10.5 kPa–96.25 kPa. Furthermore, the triboelectric materials were capable of being mounted on various body parts to detect joints motion in sport, such as the movement of hand, elbow, underarm, knee, and foot during clapping hands, playing badminton, running, kicking shuttlecock, and rope skipping, effectively reflecting the current health status.