Interaction of the human body with triboelectric nanogenerators

Highlights: • The recent advances of harvesting energy from human body motions have been systematically reviewed. • The applications of triboelectric nanogenerator in different areas has been reviewed. • New perspectives of future works have been made. -- Abstract: The use of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) is a new technique for energy harvesting at both small and large scales. Almost all types of mechanical energy can be harvested with TENGs by using four modes of operation that cover almost all mechanical motions. The interactions of the human body with TENGs range from energy harvesting, motion sensing, and biomedical applications to human-computer communications. Different types of TENGs have been developed to directly or indirectly involve the human body. This review will summarize the recent advances in the interaction of the human body with TENGs.