Smart Nanotextiles for Energy Generation

Textile is one of the ideal substrates for function integration to develop wearable electronics. The practical application of soft electronics and smart clothes relies on soft energy harvesters as power sources. With the pursuit of practicality and aesthetics, comfortable and washable power sources are desired to replace rigid and bulky batteries with a limited lifetime and potential contamination for the environment. Tremendous research efforts have been devoted to developing selfpowered textiles for converting ambient thermal/mechanical energy into electricity, or capable of storing the energy for sustainable and friendly use. Nanotextiles, consisting of nanofibers, or daily fabrics/textiles decorated by nanostructures, showing excellent flexibility and breathability because of their intrinsic softness and high porosity, serve well as carriers or components of nanogenerators for smart wearable electronics. This chapter focuses on the progress of nanotextile- based thermoelectric, piezoelectric, and triboelectric nanogenerators for energy harvesting from human body and environment. Their applications in power sources, self-powered sensors, and hybrid platforms for energy harvesting and storage have been summarized, providing a perspective on performance enhancement and multiscenario application of nanotextiles for the self-powered wearable technology.