Ultrasound-Driven Triboelectric Technology for Functional Wireless Power Transfer

Abstract

Wireless power transfer (WPT) technologies enable the remote transmission of electric charges without galvanic connections, offering promising applications in biomedical and environmental fields. Recent advancements in ultrasound-driven triboelectric nanogenerators (US-TENGs) address key technical challenges such as safety, deep penetration, compatibility, and tunability, enabling efficient electricity generation within biological tissues and fluidic environments. The emergence of US-TENGs represents a pivotal advancement in WPT, particularly for powering rechargeable implantable bioelectronic systems, as well as battery-free and self-powered devices for biotherapy, and underwater energy transfer and communications. This review discusses the potential of US-TENGs to enhance wireless energy harvesting in medical and environmental fields, emphasizing their integration and design with booster, flexible, biocompatible, and biodegradable materials to develop mechanically adaptive, efficient, stable, and minimally invasive systems. Roadmaps for various energy transfer applications of US-TENGs are presented to show recent progress. Finally, the necessary developments for the classified functionalities are discussed to address remaining challenges.