Fully Discarded Cigarette Pack-Based Flexible Triboelectric Sensor for Human Motion Monitoring, Posture Recognition, and Human-Computer Interaction

Abstract

The disposal of cigarette product waste has become an urgent environmental issue. Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) bring the possibility of resource utilization of discarded cigarette packages due to their ability to use various materials for sensing and energy harvesting. However, the TENGs based on waste materials reported have problems such as low utilization rate of waste and high manufacturing costs. To address these issues, a fully discarded cigarette pack-based flexible triboelectric sensor is proposed. The material is entirely sourced from the main waste of cigarette packs and the preparation process is simple, making it both environmentally friendly and economically advantageous. The sensor exhibits a wide detection range and good sensitivity to the change of force. In addition, it performs well in applications such as human motion monitoring, sitting posture recognition, and human-computer interaction. Specifically, it can effectively perceive joint movements and changes in plantar pressure resulting from various actions; combined with a linear support vector machine, it achieves accurate recognition of four common sitting postures with an accuracy of 99.5%; and it has been integrated into a wearable remote control system, enabling remote interaction with rescue vehicles. This study provides a new solution for the high-value utilization of discarded cigarette packages.