Transforming Medical Plastic Waste into High-Performance Triboelectric Nanogenerators for Sustainable Energy, Health Monitoring, and Sensing Applications

Abstract

This paper discusses the environmental problems posed by medical plastic waste produced in healthcare facilities and explores a suitable way to reutilize the waste through triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) device technology. Remarkably, the study investigates the potential of medical waste saline bottles to create energy-harvesting, health-monitoring devices and tactile, humidity-sensing applications. Saline bottle sheets are used as triboelectric material to fabricate a TENG in vertical contact separation (VCS) and single electrode (SE) modes. The VCS-TENG produced a power density of 8.78 W/m2 and could power various devices, including 420 red LEDs and portable electronic devices. Sleep monitoring experiments were performed by using an implanted TENG inside the pillow. The SE mode of TENG produced a power density of 1.46 W/m2 and was demonstrated for tactile sensing applications. The present work suggested using medical waste to make health monitoring, tactile sensing, humidity sensing, and energy-harvesting devices and possible applications in touch sensors for various security applications, human–machine interfaces, and IoTs. The proposed idea of using medical waste for TENG fabrication can be further extended to other nontoxic waste plastic generated in the medical field.