Biodegradable, transparent, and antibacterial alginate-based triboelectric nanogenerator for energy harvesting and tactile sensing

•A biodegradable, transparent, and antibacterial sodium alginate-based triboelectric nanogenerator is proposed.•A vacuum filtration method was used for preparing patterned transparent conductive sodium alginate/AgNWs electrodes.•Sodium alginate/glycerol substrate have good adhesion to realize the complete transfer of the AgNWs pattern.•The triboelectric nanogenerator has been used as a self-powered tactile sensor.