The rapid growth of the Internet of Things (IoT), wearable electronics, and personalized health-monitoring infrastructure has elevated the challenge of supplying continuous, decentralized power to millions of distributed sensor nodes. Conventional electrochemical batteries possess heavy form factors, finite operating lifespans, and environmental disposal costs associated with periodic replacement. Triboelectric Nanogenerators (TENGs)—operating on the coupled principles of contact electrification and electrostatic induction—convert ubiquitous ambient mechanical energy (such as human locomotion, acoustic vibrations, wind turbulence, and raindrops) into electrical energy. This technology provides an approach for constructing self-powered sensing systems that operate without external battery support.

However, standard TENG devices based on dense polymer films (e.g., solid PTFE or PDMS sheets) rely on flat two-dimensional interfaces. These dense geometries provide limited effective contact surface areas, restricting surface charge density and output power. Integrating aerogels into triboelectric architectures represents a advance in energy-harvesting material design. Aerogels combine extreme porosities, vast three-dimensional internal surface areas, and mechanical compressibility, rendering them suitable as active triboelectric media.

In an aerogel-based TENG, when external mechanical stresses (such as compression, flexure, or impact) are applied, contact electrification occurs not only on the macroscopic exterior boundary, but also within the internal nanostructure. As the aerogel matrix compresses under load, the three-dimensional internal pore walls undergo micro-scale contact electrification and local charge transfer. This "macroscopic-microscopic synergistic contact" mechanism expands the effective triboelectric contact area by orders of magnitude compared to dense films, driving increases in output voltage, current, and charge density.

Beyond power generation, aerogel-based TENGs excel as self-powered flexible sensors due to their mechanical compliance and low mass densities. Minimal mechanical disturbances—such as arterial pulse waves, ambient breeze, or acoustic pressure oscillations—induce deformation within the elastic aerogel matrix, producing distinct electrical signal outputs. By incorporating conductive polymers or carbon nanotubes into cellulose or polyurethane aerogel frameworks, engineering teams fabricate self-powered tactile sensors, biomechanical movement monitors, and acoustic sensing arrays characterized by high sensitivity and wide linear operating ranges. Aerogels are thus expanding beyond structural and thermal roles to become functional active components within next-generation self-powered microelectronics.