Smart Floor with Integrated Triboelectric Nanogenerator As Energy Harvester and Motion Sensor

A smart floor is demonstrated by integrating a square-frame triboelectric nanogenerator (SF-TENG) into a standard wood floor. The smart floor has two working modes based on two pairs of triboelectric materials: one is purposely chosen polytetrafluoroethylene films and aluminum (Al) balls, and the other is the floor itself and the objects that can be triboelectrically charged, such as basketball, shoe soles, and Scotch tape, etc. Utilizing the Al balls enclosed inside shallow boxes, the smart floor is capable of harvesting vibrational energy and, hence, provides a nonintrusive way to detect sudden falls in elderly people. In addition, when the basketball is bounced repeatedly on the floor, the average output voltage and current are 364 ± 43 V and 9 ± 1 μA, respectively, and 87 serially connected light-emitting diodes can be lit up simultaneously. Furthermore, the friction between the triboelectrically chargeable objects and the floor can also induce an alternating current output in the external circuit without the vibration of the Al balls. Normal human footsteps on the floor produce a voltage of 238 ± 17 V and a current of 2.4 ± 0.3 μA. Therefore, this work presents a smart floor with built-in SF-TENG without compromising the flexibility and stability of the standard wood floor and also demonstrates a way to harvest ambient energy solely by using conventional triboelectric materials in our daily life

Smart Floor with Integrated Triboelectric Nanogenerator As Energy Harvester and Motion Sensor

A smart floor is demonstrated by integrating a square-frame triboelectric nanogenerator (SF-TENG) into a standard wood floor. The smart floor has two working modes based on two pairs of triboelectric materials: one is purposely chosen polytetrafluoroethylene films and aluminum (Al) balls, and the other is the floor itself and the objects that can be triboelectrically charged, such as basketball, shoe soles, and Scotch tape, etc. Utilizing the Al balls enclosed inside shallow boxes, the smart floor is capable of harvesting vibrational energy and, hence, provides a nonintrusive way to detect sudden falls in elderly people. In addition, when the basketball is bounced repeatedly on the floor, the average output voltage and current are 364 ± 43 V and 9 ± 1 μA, respectively, and 87 serially connected light-emitting diodes can be lit up simultaneously. Furthermore, the friction between the triboelectrically chargeable objects and the floor can also induce an alternating current output in the external circuit without the vibration of the Al balls. Normal human footsteps on the floor produce a voltage of 238 ± 17 V and a current of 2.4 ± 0.3 μA. Therefore, this work presents a smart floor with built-in SF-TENG without compromising the flexibility and stability of the standard wood floor and also demonstrates a way to harvest ambient energy solely by using conventional triboelectric materials in our daily life

Smart Floor with Integrated Triboelectric Nanogenerator As Energy Harvester and Motion Sensor

A smart floor is demonstrated by integrating a square-frame triboelectric nanogenerator (SF-TENG) into a standard wood floor. The smart floor has two working modes based on two pairs of triboelectric materials: one is purposely chosen polytetrafluoroethylene films and aluminum (Al) balls, and the other is the floor itself and the objects that can be triboelectrically charged, such as basketball, shoe soles, and Scotch tape, etc. Utilizing the Al balls enclosed inside shallow boxes, the smart floor is capable of harvesting vibrational energy and, hence, provides a nonintrusive way to detect sudden falls in elderly people. In addition, when the basketball is bounced repeatedly on the floor, the average output voltage and current are 364 ± 43 V and 9 ± 1 μA, respectively, and 87 serially connected light-emitting diodes can be lit up simultaneously. Furthermore, the friction between the triboelectrically chargeable objects and the floor can also induce an alternating current output in the external circuit without the vibration of the Al balls. Normal human footsteps on the floor produce a voltage of 238 ± 17 V and a current of 2.4 ± 0.3 μA. Therefore, this work presents a smart floor with built-in SF-TENG without compromising the flexibility and stability of the standard wood floor and also demonstrates a way to harvest ambient energy solely by using conventional triboelectric materials in our daily life

Sequence analysis of 2-LTR circle junction from selected patients in Group A and B.

<p>The circle junction, 3′U5 and 5′U3 were aligned and numbered against HXB2. PCR products amplified from samples at week 0 and 4 were cloned and sequenced. Sequences for patients from group A are above the line while those from group B are under the line.</p

The patients' HIV-1 RNA loads, CD4 cell counts, and ART.

a<p>Viral load was measured by the Amplicor HIV-1 monitor ultrasensitive Method (Roche), with a detection limit of 40 copies/ml of plasma.</p

Correlation analysis for the change rates of 2-LTR.

<p>Relationships between baseline parameters and the later 2-LTR change rates were shown in the left panel, and the correlations between later change rates were shown in the right panel. Inside each panel, the correlations between the rate of changes in 2-LTR and the baseline or the change rate in plasma viral load, the total CD4⁺, memory (RO⁺) (mCD4) and naïve (RA⁺) CD4⁺ (nCD4) T cell count for the 12 patients in Group A were shown. Rate of 2-LTR increase or decrease was indicated as below.</p

Estimated doubling time or half-life of 2-LTR HIV DNA (weeks).

a<p>The slope of the increase rate of was negative, and the number inside the parentheses indicates the half-life.</p

Linear regression analysis on the decay rate of the total HIV DNA.

<p>During the first 12 weeks of treatment, each patient in Group A (A) and Group B (B) was analyzed, as well as the averages for the two groups (C). Three patients (p5, p7 and p9) in Group A and two (p17 and p18) in Group B did not have applicable decay rates (<i>t</i>_1/2<i>na</i>) and were therefore not included in the calculation of average shown in panel C.</p