Self-powered flexible ultralong electrode sensor made by material-extrusion for artificial intelligence driven accurate motion recognition

A challenge for self-powered flexible devices with applications in the field of Internet of Things (IoT) is their fast and cost-effective production, ensuring accurate display and recognition of many motion trajectories for intelligent control. Herein we present a fully self-powered triboelectric sensor made via extrusion-based additive manufacturing (AM), efficiently embedding post-purified long silver nanowires (AgNWs) in thermoplastic elastomer (TPU). The deformable AgNW stretchable electrodes make the stress transfer stable throughout the device, to achieve outstanding self-powering properties. The roughness of the surface is enhanced by sandpaper treatment design, which significantly improves triboelectric features with voltage increases from 4.9 to 16.7 V. The extrusion-made composite sensor enables the development of a highly reliable artificial intelligence (AI) driven motion recognition system, with a detection reliability as high as 97%. This accuracy level according to a scalable manufacturing technique offers a promising approach for future IoT devices focused on advanced action interaction and smart wearable electronics.