Publication

Sleep apnea has a very serious impact on health, as it can cause stroke, heart disease, and many other conditions. To prevent this from happening, it's important to monitor sleep and get into the proper sleeping habits. This is driving the rise of technology that monitors respiration during sleep, which is still a challenge to make it highly sensitive and comfortable for the user. In this study, a highly sensitive and breathable self-powered sensor was fabricated based on triboelectric nanogenerator with excellent performance using MXene to diagnose sleep apnea. Using Polyurethane and MXene/PVDF nanofibers as the contact pairs with fabric electrodes, the triboelectric nanogenerator showed a high-pressure sensitivity of 7.982 V/kPa in a low-pressure range below 30 kV, and exhibited  excellent surface potential of 0.5 kV and flexibility. Consequently, it  allows real-time  breathing monitoring and the diagnosis of sleep apnea, showing great potential as a wearable device for improving the lifestyle through monitoring sleep quality.