Review on Textile Triboelectric Nanogenerators: From Material Design to Self‐Powered Wearable Energy Systems

Abstract

The rapid growth of wearable electronics, smart textiles, and the Internet of Things (IoT) has increased the demand for sustainable, self‐powered energy solutions. Textile‐based triboelectric nanogenerators (T‐TENGs) have emerged as a promising technology by combining efficient mechanical energy harvesting with the flexibility, breathability, stretchability, washability, and wearability of textiles. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in T‐TENGs, covering the complete design hierarchy from fundamental mechanisms to wearable applications. The operating principles of alternating‐current and emerging direct‐current TENGs, including contact electrification, electrostatic induction, electrostatic breakdown, and tribovoltaic effects, are discussed. Recent progress in triboelectric material engineering, fiber and yarn design, and textile architectures—including woven, knitted, braided, embroidered, multilayer, and 3D structures—is systematically reviewed with emphasis on performance enhancement and scalability. Applications in biomechanical sensing, wearable healthcare, human–machine interaction, smart textiles, and self‐powered wearable systems are summarized, highlighting the distinction between self‐powered sensing and fully autonomous wearable platforms. Finally, key challenges, including low current output, environmental stability, washability, durability, scalable manufacturing, performance standardization, and commercialization, are critically analyzed, and future research directions toward intelligent, fully autonomous, and commercially viable self‐powered wearable systems are outlined.