Optical Emission from Triboelectric Gas Discharge toward Self-Powered Gas Sensing

Optical emission from gas molecules is considered an excellent solution to gas detection because of its fairly high sensitivity and selectivity. However, its further development is constrained by its large size, high energy consumption, and security risks. Herein, a self-powered gas sensing solution is proposed by taking advantage of the optical emission of triboelectric discharge (TD). Based on the triboelectric effect, the high output voltage of approximate to kV can lead to producing optical emissions through gas discharges, including emission spectra and discharge images, which are affected by gas species and pressure. By means of machine learning, the optical emission signals process the ability to recognize 60 gas atmospheres simultaneously, with an accuracy of 97.67%. With the assistance of the mobile phone or closed-circuit television, a self-powered gas sensing system based on TD may serve as a portable detecting device and a vital component of the Internet of Things system.