Triboelectric Nanogenerators: A Novel Approach in Wound Healing

Wound healing, is regeneration physiological processes to tissue injury in human body that involves a complex interplay between numerous cell types with distinct roles. Due to the advances in medical technology in the field of wound healing, in the last decades we have seen the evolution of effective non-invasive treatment strategies, including hyperbaric oxygen therapy, compression bandaging, wound dressings, negative pressure therapy, ultrasound and electrical stimulation in the wound area. Electrical stimulation at the wound site is one of the attractive adjunct strategies in skin wound healing. Recently, the advent of various types of nanogenerators has created many opportunities for wound healing due to their favorable properties, owing to their pertinent features including low cost, simple fabrication, high output power, and small size. Nanogenerator as a biomedical technology could harvest micro-/nano-scale mechanical energy into electricity. The triboelectric nanogenerator is a type of nanogenerator that use all kinds of mechanical energy, such as wind waves, water waves, sound waves, magnetically induced motion, human motion, as an available energy source. In triboelectric nanogenerator, charges are placed on the surface of the electrodes by three working moods such as free-standing, contact-separation, or sliding mood, and an electric potential is created between the surfaces of electrodes. The alternating potential created in induced triboelectric effect can be stored in a storage unit or it can be used to power electrical devices (self-powered sensors). The electrical stimulation caused by triboelectric nanogenerators can reduce the wound edema around the nanogenerator electrodes. Other benefits include increased blood flow, proliferation of fibroblasts and keratinocytes, reconstruction of collagen, stimulation and migration of epidermal cells, recruitment of neutrophils and reduction of mast cells in healing wounds and the increase of growth factors that are effective in wound healing