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Highlights: Typical structures/working mechanisms of gel-based triboelectric nanogenerators and performance advantages of gel materials reviewed. Optimization of hydrogels, organogels, and aerogels for triboelectric nanogenerators in flexible sensing summarized. Applications, challenges, and future development directions of gel-based triboelectric nanogenerators in flexible sensing are discussed. The rapid development of the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence technologies has increased the need for wearable, portable, and self-powered flexible sensing devices. Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) based on gel materials (with excellent conductivity, mechanical tunability, environmental adaptability, and biocompatibility) are considered an advanced approach for developing a new generation of flexible sensors. This review comprehensively summarizes the recent advances in gel-based TENGs for flexible sensors, covering their principles, properties, and applications. Based on the development requirements for flexible sensors, the working mechanism of gel-based TENGs and the characteristic advantages of gels are introduced. Design strategies for the performance optimization of hydrogel-, organogel-, and aerogel-based TENGs are systematically summarized. In addition, the applications of gel-based TENGs in human motion sensing, tactile sensing, health monitoring, environmental monitoring, human–machine interaction, and other related fields are summarized. Finally, the challenges of gel-based TENGs for flexible sensing are discussed, and feasible strategies are proposed to guide future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Material designs for wearable sensors are increasingly important due to variable application scenarios and environmental disturbances. The high temperatures pose a significant challenge to the performance of sensing materials. The reasonable anisotropic structure in materials is recognized as a promising approach to address this challenge. Precise control of the orientation of the material remains difficult, owing to the entropy effect. In this work, a tunable anisotropic triboelectric aerogel via an in situ coupled magnetic alignment and protonation reduction strategy is demonstrated. The designed orientation with a fitting degree of 98% can effectively suppress electron thermionic emission, which enables the surface charge density to reach 75 µC m−2 at 300 °C. Such a perfect coordination between self‐powered sensing and thermostability innovates multifunctional wearable sensing design at high temperatures, allowing aramid‐based aerogel to be a candidate for advanced sensing materials for applications in the military and aerospace fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]