Self-powered real-time monitoring of electrochemical pollutant degradation using a spiral-tube triboelectric nanogenerator

Real-time monitoring of electrochemical pollutant degradation is essential for intelligent water treatment but remains challenging in power-limited or remote scenarios. Here, we develop a fully self-powered sensing platform based on a vertical contact–separation triboelectric nanogenerator (CP-TENG) incorporating a spiral PTFE microtube and copper electrodes. The device harvests fluid-induced mechanical energy while simultaneously transducing variations in liquid conductivity, flow rate, and pollutant composition into distinct electrical signatures. The output signals exhibit strong quantitative correlations with the degradation kinetics of ammonia nitrogen and Reactive Blue 19, enabling continuous tracking of both inorganic and organic pollutants without external power or optical instrumentation. The CP-TENG further demonstrates high sensitivity in distinguishing conductive and non-conductive liquids and maintains excellent operational stability over prolonged cycling. This work establishes TENG-based architectures as dual-functional platforms for sustainable energy harvesting and intelligent environmental sensing, offering a promising route toward autonomous wastewater treatment and next-generation smart monitoring infrastructures.