High Performance Triboelectric Nanogenerators of Reduced Graphene Oxide-Based Poly(vinyl alcohol) Nanocomposites toward Biomechanical Energy Harvesting and an IoT System for Human–Machine Interface Application

The growing demand for self-powered wearable electronics and intelligent human–machine interface (HMI) systems has spurred interest in flexible and efficient energy harvesting technologies. In this work, we present a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) based on a poly(vinyl alcohol)/processed reduced graphene oxide (PVA/p-RGO) nanocomposite film designed for effective biomechanical energy harvesting and interactive HMI applications. The integration of p-RGO into the PVA matrix has enhanced the dielectric constant, surface roughness, and mechanical durability of the triboelectric layer, leading to substantial improvement in the output performance. The device has delivered a peak output voltage of ∼146 V, a short-circuit current of ∼26 μA, and maximum power of ∼2500 μW at 8 MΩ resistance under low-frequency biomechanical input such as finger tapping. The output power density of ∼4.17 W/m2 was registered by the TENG. The device was lightweight and flexible, which could allow seamless integration into user-interactive system devices. Further, an Internet-of-Things system was integrated with the device to demonstrate the application of the nanocomposite toward HMI application. This work has underscored the potential of PVA/p-RGO nanocomposite-based TENGs as practical and scalable solutions for wearable sensing, soft robotics, and smart interface technologies.