AKA Human Skin Is a Conductible Material
Image credit: Peepo, iStock, 2021
The amount of research being done in the field of wearables and ambient energy harvesting is staggering.
A novel approach to wirelessly power wearable devices
Jun 2021, phys.org
It's like a microscope for energy -- all of the sudden, the "waste energy" from our appliances and devices, in electromagnetic form, is powering tiny ubiquitous smart particles all around us.
Their technology enables a single device, such as a mobile phone placed in the pocket, to wirelessly power other wearable devices on a user's body, using the human body as a medium for power transmission.A user just needs to place the transmitter on a single power source, such as the smart watch on a user's wrist, while multiple receivers can be placed anywhere on the person's body. The system then harnesses energy from the source to power multiple wearables on the user's body via a process termed as body-coupled power transmission. In this way, the user will only need to charge one device, and the rest of the gadgets that are worn can simultaneously be powered up from that single source. The team's experiments showed that their system allows a single power source that is fully charged to power up to 10 wearable devices on the body, for a duration of over 10 hours.
As a complementary source of power, the NUS team also looked into harvesting energy from the environment. Their research found that typical office and home environments have parasitic electromagnetic (EM) waves that people are exposed to all the time, for instance, from a running laptop. The team's novel receiver scavenges the EM waves from the ambient environment, and through a process referred to as body-coupled powering, the human body is able to harvest this energy to power the wearable devices, regardless of their locations around the body.
via National University of Singapore: Jiamin Li et al, Body-coupled power transmission and energy harvesting, Nature Electronics (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41928-021-00592-y
A new material made from carbon nanotubes can generate electricity by scavenging energy from its environment
Jun 2021, phys.org
Electrochemistry without wires. This is an organic solvent that generates a current via alcohol oxidation. The catch? The nanotubes are coated in "Teflon-like" material. Gonna have to fix that part (PFAS).
via Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Albert Tianxiang Liu et al, Solvent-induced electrochemistry at an electrically asymmetric carbon Janus particle, Nature Communications (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-23038-7
Using starch and baking soda to harvest mechanical energy
Jun 2021, phys.org
via Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology: Sugato Hajra et al, A Green Metal–Organic Framework‐Cyclodextrin MOF: A Novel Multifunctional Material Based Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Highly Efficient Mechanical Energy Harvesting, Advanced Functional Materials (2021). DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202101829
Skin in the game: Transformative approach uses the human body to recharge smartwatches
Jul 2021, phys.org
via University of Massachusetts Amherst: Noor Mohammed et al, ShaZam, Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (2021). DOI: 10.1145/3463505
Conductive seams, when strategically placed in clothing, can accurately track body motion
Jul 2021, phys.org
via University of Bath: Olivia Ruston et al, More than it Seams: Garment Stitching in Wearable e-Textiles, Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2021 (2021). DOI: 10.1145/3461778.3462103
First-ever transient pacemaker harmlessly dissolves in body
Jul 2021, phys.org
via Northwestern University: Fully implantable and bioresorbable cardiac pacemakers without leads or batteries, Nature Biotechnology (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41587-021-00948-x
Sweat-proof 'smart skin' takes reliable vitals, even during workouts and spicy meals
Jul 2021, phys.org
Writes itself now:
The patch is patterned with artificial sweat ducts, similar to pores in human skin, that the researchers etched through the material's ultrathin layers. The pores perforate the patch in a kirigami-like pattern, similar to that of the Japanese paper-cutting art. The design ensures that sweat can escape through the patch, preventing skin irritation and damage to embedded sensors.
via Massachusetts Institute of Technology: H. Yeon el al., "Long-term reliable physical health monitoring by sweat pore–inspired perforated electronic skins," Science Advances (2021). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abg8459
Microfiber-based metafabric provides daytime radiative cooling
Jul 2021, phys.org
Sooner than we think, we will be wearing today's equivalent of a space suit in order to go outside, on Earth:
The final design added titanium dioxide powder to polymer fibers to make them reflective, and adding polylactic acid to allow the material to emit mid-infrared radiation. The researchers created a fabric using a weaving technique that allowed air to circulate. The researchers tested their material by using it to create a vest. One side of the vest was made of cotton, the other with the material they had developed. A volunteer wore the vest outside in the sun for an hour. Measurements of his skin temperature showed it to be almost 5 degrees Celsius cooler on the new material side. The researchers also note that in addition to reducing heat, clothes made of their material would be biodegradable.
via: Shaoning Zeng et al, Hierarchical-morphology metafabric for scalable passive daytime radiative cooling, Science (2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abi5484
New chemistry enables using existing technology to print stretchable, bendable circuits on artificial skin
Jul 2021, phys.org
In a new study, the group describes how they have printed stretchable-yet-durable integrated circuits on rubbery, skin-like materials, using the same equipment designed to make solid silicon chips — an accomplishment that could ease the transition to commercialization by switching foundries that today make rigid circuits to producing stretchable ones.
via Stanford University: Yu-Qing Zheng et al, Monolithic optical microlithography of high-density elastic circuits, Science (2021). DOI: 10.1126/science.abh3551
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| Nanoscopic Schematic by Ella Maru Studio |
New nanotech will enable a 'healthy' electric current production inside the human body
Jul 2021, phys.org
For example, a device made from this material may replace a battery that supplies energy to implants like pacemakers, though it should be replaced from time to time. Body movements—like heartbeats, jaw movements, bowel movements, or any other movement that occurs in the body on a regular basis—will charge the device with electricity, which will continuously activate the implant."
via Tel-Aviv University: Santu Bera et al, Molecular engineering of piezoelectricity in collagen-mimicking peptide assemblies, Nature Communications (2021). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22895-6
Detecting an unprecedented range of potentially harmful airborne compounds
Aug 2021, phys.org
Usually, if you want to sample for VOCs, you first have to know which VOC you're looking for. You think there's some diacetyl exposure? Then you dose your sampler with a chemical that latches onto diacetyl. But what if we don't know? You're in luck! This new approach uses nanopores of silica; they are so small that they use van der Waals forces, typically really weak forces, to capture any VOCs that float by. Then they can heat up the sensor and re-volatalize whatever got trapped there, and sniff it through a GCMS.
via American Chemical Society: Nanoporous materials for measuring environmental VOC exposures, ACS Fall 2021.
Indoor lighting creates power for rechargeable devices, sensors
Aug 2021, phys.org
Since there is usually plenty of indoor ambient light from different sources, a ceiling light in an office environment would be enough to charge any of the mini modules that were tested, making them all viable as power sources for indoor batteries and sensors.
via American Institute of Physics: https://horizons.aip.org/energystorage-conversion/
Revolutionary Self-Aware Materials Build the Foundation for Living Structures
Oct 2021, scitechdaily.com
A metamaterial system that acts as its own sensor, recording and relaying important information about the pressure and stresses on its structure, fusing advanced metamaterial and energy harvesting technologies at multiscale. With built-in triboelectric nanogenerator mechanism; a smart-stint that monitors bloodflow and restricts vessel size accordingly, or just a smart-bridge that can communicate areas of weakness by sensing pressure.
As I write this, it sounds to me like the bridge can be conscious, because it can feel. So in the distant future, we won't be able to just knock down a house, because it will have feelings. Design for Dissassembly then, maybe?
via University of Pittsburg's Intelligent Structural Monitoring and Response Testing (iSMaRT) Lab: “Multifunctional meta-tribomaterial nanogenerators for energy harvesting and active sensing” by Kaveh Barri, Pengcheng Jiao, Qianyun Zhang, Jun Chen, Zhong Lin Wang and Amir H. Alavi, 16 April 2021, Nano Energy. DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2021.106074
Engineers develop process that turns ordinary clothing into biosensors
Nov 2021, phys.org
Gold and silver nanocomposite-based biostable and biocompatible electronic textile for wearable electromyographic biosensors.
via University of Utah: Taehwan Lim et al, Gold and silver nanocomposite-based biostable and biocompatible electronic textile for wearable electromyographic biosensors, APL Materials (2021). DOI: 10.1063/5.0058617
Form fit: Device wraps around hot surfaces, turns wasted heat to electricity
Jan 2022, phys.org
via Pennsylvania State University: Wenjie Li et al, Conformal High-Power-Density Half-Heusler Thermoelectric Modules: A Pathway toward Practical Power Generators, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2021). DOI: 10.1021/acsami.1c16117
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