Highly-stretchable rope-like triboelectric nanogenerator for self-powered monitoring in marine structures

Real-time monitoring in marine structures is vital to prevent maritime accidents. In this study, a highly-stretchable rope-like triboelectric nanogenerator (R-TENG) is proposed and investigated to monitor the mechanical loads of marine structures. The designed R-TENG is composed of outer latex tube and inner silicone rubber core. A series of experiments reveal that the voltage output of the R-TENG increases linearly with the strain in the elastic region of 140%. In addition, the R-TENG can also respond well to other mechanical stimuli such as bending and pressing. More importantly, the electrical output of the R-TENG can remain almost constant even under 93% humidity atmosphere. Finally, the R-TENG has been successfully demonstrated in monitoring the typical mechanical loads in marine structures, including stretching, colliding and bending. Therefore, this R-TENG can be utilized as an alternative sensor to realize the self-powered monitoring in marine structures. [Display omitted] •A rope-like triboelectric nanogenerator is first proposed for monitoring the marine structures in this work.•The R-TENG composed of elastic latex tube and silicone rubber column is of 200% high-stretchability.•The R-TENG can sense tensile force, bending angle and pressing force.•The electrical output of the R-TENG turns out to be stable even at ultrahigh humidity atmosphere.•The R-TENG is demonstrated successfully in monitoring the various mechanical loading in this work.