Chuang Ye, Ruichao Zhang, Hao Sun, Shuhai Liu
Self-Powered sensing systems based on triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have attracted significant attention across various fields, including healthcare, wearable sensing, and environmental monitoring due to their ability to harvest ambient mechanical energy and convert the energy into electricity; simultaneously, their electrical output, which is sensitive to mechanical inputs (e.g., force, frequency) and environmental factors (e.g., humidity, temperature), enables them to function directly as sensors. Over the past decade, research efforts have primarily focused on enhancing TENG output and extending application scenarios through material modifications and device designs, alongside stabilizing its output performance via energy management circuits. Recently, significant advances have been made in improving TENG's powering performance using strategies such as impedance decoupling (e.g., synchronous switch, shunt circuit) and self-calibration, which also substantially enhance the sensing accuracy of self-powered sensing. Here, we systematically review the evolution of TENG-based self-powered sensing over the past decade first, then focus on recent progress, particularly in enhancing the powering performance of TENG for accurate self-powered sensing, and propose guidelines for constructing self-powered sensing systems. Finally, we discuss the current challenges and prospects for TENG development in self-powered sensing.