Conductive hydrogel-based triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) with high stretchability and sensitivity have shown great promise in the field of wearable electronics. However, time- and energy-consuming gelation process and low electrical output performances below 0 degrees C severely limit their practical application. Herein, a polyphenol (sodium lignosulfonate, SL)-variable metal ion (Fe3+)-based self-catalytic system was used to prepare rapidly a tough, anti-freezing, and conductive hydrogel ([SL-Fe3+/P]Li) within 68 s. The combination of poly(2hydroxyethyl acrylate-co-acrylic acid) (P(HEA-co-AA)) and antifreeze reagent LiCl endowed the hydrogel with high conductivity (2.52 S/m), excellent mechanical strength (tensile stress of 685.98 kPa and tensile strain of 2403 %), and repeatable adhesion (30.67 kPa for polydimethylsiloxane, PDMS) at -18 degrees C. Further, an antifreezing TENG (AH-TENG) was constructed using the hydrogel as electrode material, which exhibited outstanding electrical output capabilities (open-circuit voltage: VOC = 183.87 V, short-circuit current: ISC = 9.63 mu A, and short-circuit charge: QSC = 65.28 nC) at -18 degrees C. Finally, AH-TENG can be utilized as energy harvesting device with high power density (3.199 W/m2) and rapid charging efficiency (a 22 mu F commercial capacitor charged to 1.5 V for 76 s) was able to power small electronics, which also accurately detected various human motions as self-powered sensor with wide pressure detection range (0.016-48 kPa) and high pressure sensitivity (2.641 kPa-1 at 0.016-0.16 kPa tapping pressure) at -18 degrees C. This study provides a promising strategy to design tough, anti-freezing, and conductive hydrogel via rapid gelation for frost-resistant TENG, promoting more attention to hydrogel-based TENG for energy harvesting and self-powered applications under extreme environment.
