Chen Lijuna， Wu Jiea， Zhang Yuanyuana， Li Fengmeia， Wu Fengxiua， Chen Chaoyub，c
Abstract
Significance The triboelectric textile-based sensor has attracted significant scientific and technological interest. It not only covers the fundamental principles of contact electrification and electrostatic induction， but also incorporates advanced microstructural design strategies for interface engineering， which makes it highly promising for wearable healthcare monitoring， human-machine interaction， and smart home applications. Specifically， high sensitivity and stable electrical output under dynamic deformation have enabled direct applications in joint motion detection， throat micro-movement monitoring， curved surface pressure mapping， and physiological signal acquisition， owing to their capability to conform to dynamic and irregular surfaces. Triboelectric nanogenerators have been developed for nearly a decade. In this century， electrospinning and advanced textile fabrication technologies have provided an ideal platform for constructing flexible sensing interfaces， and numerous studies have reported performance optimization based on material doping and structural engineering. However， such conventional planar interfaces cannot provide stable contact under complex curvature deformation， because the effective contact area fluctuates significantly due to the dynamic evolution of interfacial contact states during bending， stretching， and twisting. As an alternative， microstructured interfaces with excellent curvature adaptability， high specific surface area， reliable mechanical compliance， and enhanced charge trapping capability have become the most popular research focus and a hot research topic in the recent decade.
Progress So far， three main interfacial mechanisms have been exploited for complex curvature applications： electrospun fiber networks， fuzzy surfaces with micro-protrusions， and functional membranes， among which the electrospun fiber network is the pioneering one. In 2025， Chen et al. used coaxial electrospinning to incorporate Cs₃Bi₂Cl9 perovskite into PVDF-TrFE， achieving 88.12% β-phase content and a sensitivity of 3.64 V kPa⁻¹ with stability over 50 000 cycles （Fig.1）. This study marks the first integration of molecular-scale polarity modulation with macro-scale fiber network design for curved surface adaptability. Subsequently， different material systems were introduced. Zhi et al. incorporated Cs₂InCl₅（H₂O） into PVDF-HFP， achieving a peak power density of 6.94 W/m². Wang et al. demonstrated TPU-AgNWs fibers with gauge factors exceeding 16 000， while Zhao et al. achieved a sensitivity of 4 257.25 at 600%~800% strain via dynamic interfacial cross-linking. Feng et al. modified silk fibroin with amino groups， enhancing the output by 1.67 times. Regarding fuzzy surfaces， Shen et al. developed biomimetic fur knitted fabrics with a pile density of 16 128 fibers/cm²， achieving a peak power density of 1.4 W/m² （Fig.2）. Wang et al. systematically investigated loop height effects in warp-knitted terry fabrics， obtaining a 150 V output in sliding mode. Zhong et al. constructed all-textile 3D TENGs with 8×6 pixel arrays using three-layer coaxial yarns， demonstrating a sensitivity of 36.9 kPa⁻¹. For multifunctional integration， Huang et al. developed thermal-regulating triboelectric textiles achieving radiative cooling of 18.4 ℃ （Fig.3）， while Cao et al. integrated phase change materials and photothermal coatings to achieve switchable thermal management and an enhanced output of 8 762 μW/m². For functional membranes， Zhao et al. prepared cellulose nanofiber aerogel films with a tensile strength of 104 MPa and multi-level porous structures （Fig.4）. Xu et al. designed kirigami-inspired sensors achieving an angular resolution of 0.327 5° through controlled buckling. He et al. developed wrinkled graphene-PDMS composites maintaining stable output up to 100% strain （Fig.5）. To overcome the issue of rigid electrode interfaces， Huang et al. exploited an incompatible interface design between rigid nickel-plated fabric and soft PDMS for high-precision vibration monitoring from 30 Hz to 100 Hz （Fig.6）.
Conclusions and Prospects The past decade has witnessed great progress in triboelectric textile-based sensors， enabling a wide range of new applications in curved surface scenarios. Different mechanisms， e.g.， electrospun fiber networks， fuzzy surfaces， and functional membranes， have been introduced into sensor design to demonstrate enhanced sensitivity， stability， and adaptability. However， most current strategies face critical challenges， including limited scalability of microfabrication techniques， insufficient long-term interfacial stability of multicomponent systems， and a lack of theoretical models for charge transfer under multimodal deformation， which undermines reliability and prevents practical applications on complex and dynamic curved surfaces. Thus， the development toward scalable， high-precision microstructuring technologies is undoubtedly the future trend. In addition， current performance parameters fall short of practical requirements for multi-scenario wearable systems， highlighting the need for improvement by employing new material systems and advanced structural designs. Parallel to performance enhancement， further expansion of sensor functionalities to include thermal management， self-powered sensing， and healthcare monitoring is also an important direction for next-generation smart wearable systems.
Keywords： triboelectric textile-based sensor； complex curvature adaptability； microstructural design； electrospun fiber network； fuzzy surface
Get Citation:Chen Lijun， Wu Jie， Zhang Yuanyuan， et al. Research progress on triboelectric textile-based sensors for complex curved surfaces［J］. China Powder Science and Technology， 2026， 32（6）： 1-26.
Received：2026-03-31， Revised： 2026-06-06， Online： 2026-08-07。
Funding： The research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.52303055).
CLC No.：TS15； TK6； TB4
Type Code：A
Serial No.：1008-5548（2026）06-0001-26
