Showing posts with label ambient energy harvesting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ambient energy harvesting. Show all posts

Friday, June 26, 2026

Whatever Happened to Ambient Energy Harvesting


For a good few years I was collecting articles about ambient energy harvesting, very interesting topic, or so I thought. But then, one day, all of the sudden, it disappeared. Just like that. Maybe it's called something else now and I just haven't realized it.

I mean when it comes to graphene, for example, we saw the gradual transition to things like hexagonal boron nitride, or silica (see below), and finally to Moiré lattices, so that we sort of don't even care about the graphene part anymore.

We saw wearables become electronic skin, and RNGs became QRNGs, and the topological zoo became...well it's actually still being called that; but what did ambient energy harvesting become? 

Self-powered sensor can generate electricity and light simultaneously using only movement
Feb 2025, phys.org

They combine triboelectric nanogenerators and mechanoluminescence, adding light-emitting zinc sulfide-copper particles to a rubber-like material called polydimethylsiloxane using a single electrode structure based on silver nanowires.

via Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology: Sugato Hajra et al, Simultaneous Triboelectric and Mechanoluminescence Sensing Toward Self‐Powered Applications, Advanced Sustainable Systems (2024). DOI: 10.1002/adsu.202400609


For Old Time's Sake:
Glaphene: 2D hybrid material integrates graphene and silica glass for next-generation electronics
May 2025, phys.org

The team developed a two-step, single-reaction method to grow glaphene using a liquid chemical precursor that contains both silicon and carbon. By tuning oxygen levels during heating, they first grew graphene then shifted conditions to favor the formation of a silica layer. 

Rice University: Sathvik Ajay Iyengar et al, Glaphene: A Hybridization of 2D Silica Glass and Graphene, Advanced Materials (2025). DOI: 10.1002/adma.202419136

The Graphene Zoo (as of today) - Glaphene, Graphyne, White Graphene, Synthetic Hexagonal Diamonds, Olympicene, Borophene, Interdimensional Graphene-Graphite, Goldene, and the link to explanations of what these are, here.

And because we do need to know this, the word graphite comes from the pencil, which contained "black lead" until we discovered it was actually carbon, when it was given the name that means "to write" in Greek plus -ite which is given to minerals (like Fordite, aka Detroit Agate, wiki link, and link for those who really want to know).


Scientists develop novel self-healing electronic skin for health monitoring
Feb 2025, phys.org

Self-healing electronic skin provides health monitoring systems, real-time fatigue detection and muscle strength assessment. 

via Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation: Yongju Lee et al, Rapidly Self-Healing Electronic Skin for Machine Learning-Assisted Physiological and Movement Evaluation, Science Advances (2025). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ads1301.


Quantum random number generator combines small size and high speed
Sep 2025, phys.org

From my armchair, I predict this statement as good for posterity: "The quantum properties of light make it possible to produce numbers that are truly random, unlike the numbers generated by computer algorithms, which only imitate randomness." Something about Einstein, God, and gambling. 

via Toshiba's Cambridge Research Laboratory in the United Kingdom: Peter Smith et al, Noise-Rejecting Photonic Integrated Circuit for Robust Quantum Random Number Generation, Optica Quantum (2025). DOI: 10.1364/opticaq.570625


Conventional entanglement can have thousands of hidden topologies in high dimensions
Dec 2025, phys.org

The topological zoo now tops-out at 48 dimensions with over 17,000 topological signatures, an enormous alphabet for encoding robust quantum information.

"You get the topology for free, from the entanglement in space. It was always there, it just had to be found."

via University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa: Robert de Mello Koch et al, Revealing the topological nature of entangled orbital angular momentum states of light, Nature Communications (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-66066-3

Topological Zoo Home Page - I will say, it's not often that you find a webpage from 1995 resulting from a simple web search - so yeah search in the age of ai has changed - http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/zoo/



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Friday, January 10, 2025

Everything is Everywhere All of the Sudden


I usually don't post artist renderings like this, but this is what I see when imagining everything made of computers, using ambient energy like light to control different particles each designed to take it and do different things with it but all in one jumble of matter, like an intelligent matter: Above image: An artistic depiction of a wavelength-multiplexed diffractive optical processor for 3D quantitative phase imaging. Credit: UCLA Engineering Institute for Technology Advancement [link]

On what could be called "ubiquitous computing", a legend of artificial intelligence (Hinton) describes it really well:
(What's next in computing?) My last years at Google I was thinking about analog computing ... run these big language models in analog hardware ... if you're gonna use that low power analog computation, every piece of hardware is gonna be a bit different. And the idea is that the learning is gonna make use of the specific properties of that hardware.
--Geoffrey Hinton interview, "On Working w Ilya, Choosing Problems, and the Power of Intuition", July 2024 30min?

Researchers use 'smart' rubber structures to carry out computational tasks
May 2024, phys.org

"We now know how to design simple materials so they can process information."

The research team created a rubber computer that can act as a two-bit binary counter using slender rubber elements as mechanical bits, and assembling multiple bits together in a metamaterial.

Note: The title of their demonstration video is "Can Rubber Compute?" and I now see it all as a series of experiments like the Will It Blend series, where they just do it to everything - can crystals compute? (Yes, we already know that) Can light compute? (Yes we already know that too) Can slime mold compute? But can salt compute? (Actually yes, like in a gradient of fresh water and salt water, but I was talking about a pile of table salt.) Can my sneakers compute? (I mean obviously) Can my front door compute? (Also obvious, its whole thing is to open and close like 1/0) I'm not talking about a computer screwed on top of my doorknob, I mean the door itself, the whole thing, is a computer, just by the way its materials are put together.  The garbage can? Definitely garbage cans will compute. 

via Leiden University and AMOLF: Jingran Liu et al, Controlled pathways and sequential information processing in serially coupled mechanical hysterons, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2308414121


Using DNA origami, researchers create diamond lattice for future semiconductors of visible light
May 2024, phys.org

With headlines like that, there is no further explanation. 

via Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich: Gregor Posnjak et al, Diamond-lattice photonic crystals assembled from DNA origami, Science (2024). DOI: 10.1126/science.adl2733

Also: Hao Liu et al, Inverse design of a pyrochlore lattice of DNA origami through model-driven experiments, Science (2024). DOI: 10.1126/science.adl5549


Mechanical computer relies on kirigami cubes, not electronics
Jun 2024, phys.org

It's a mechanical computer, one that doesn't use electronics. Is that all we need to call it? A mechanical computer?

Historically, these mechanical components have been things like levers or gears. But cubes can have five or more different states. Theoretically, that means a given cube can convey not only a 1 or a 0, but also a 2, 3 or 4.

When any of the cubes are pushed up or down, this changes the geometry—or architecture—of all of the connected cubes. This can be done by pushing up or down on one of the cubes with a magnetic field. These 64-cube functional units can be grouped together into increasingly complex metastructures that allow for storing more data or for conducting more complex computations.

The cubes are connected by thin strips of elastic tape. To edit data, you have to change the configuration of functional units. That requires users to pull on the edges of the metastructure, which stretches the elastic tape and allows you to push cubes up or down. When you release the metastructure, the tape contracts, locking the cubes—and the data—in place.

"One potential application for this is that it allows for users to create three-dimensional, mechanical encryption or decryption"

via North Carolina State University: Yanbin Li et al, Reprogrammable and reconfigurable mechanical computing metastructures with stable and high-density memory, Science Advances (2024). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ado6476 , www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.ado6476


New material paves the way to on-chip energy harvesting
Jul 2024, phys.org

They utilize the waste heat generated during operation and convert it back into electrical energy, called "on-chip energy harvesting", and it works because they put tin in the germanium (Ge+Sn). 

via Forschungszentrum Jülich and IHP—Leibniz Institute for High Performance Microelectronics in Germany, University of Pisa, University of Bologna, University of Leeds: Omar Concepción et al, Room Temperature Lattice Thermal Conductivity of GeSn Alloys, ACS Applied Energy Materials (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acsaem.4c00275


A first physical system to learn nonlinear tasks without a traditional computer processor
Jul 2024, phys.org

They made a contrastive local learning network where components evolve on their own based on local rules without knowledge of the larger structure, similar to how neurons in the human brain don't know what other neurons are doing and yet learning emerges.

"It can learn, in a machine learning sense, to perform useful tasks, similar to a computational neural network, but it is a physical object."

(Physical object, that's the key)

"Because the way that it both calculates and learns is based on physics, it's way more interpretable. You can actually figure out what it's trying to do because you have a good handle on the underlying mechanism. That's kind of unique because a lot of other learning systems are black boxes where it's much harder to know why the network did what it did.

via University of Pennsylvania: Sam Dillavou et al, Machine learning without a processor: Emergent learning in a nonlinear analog network, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2024). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2319718121

The optical era of science reporting where every picture has rainbows in it: Artistic depiction of diffractive information processing - Ozcan Lab at UCLA - Jul 2024

Scientists demonstrate chemical reservoir computation using the formose reaction
Jul 2024, phys.org

Good explanation by the writeup author here, Tejasri Gururaj: The field of molecular computing interests researchers who wish to harness the computational power of chemical and biological systems. In these systems, the chemical reactions or molecular processes act as the reservoir computer, transforming inputs into high-dimensional outputs. ...

The formose reaction is the only example of a self-organizing reaction network with a highly non-linear topology, containing numerous positive and negative feedback loops.

The researchers used a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) to implement the formose reaction. The input concentrations of four reactants—formaldehyde, dihydroxyacetone, sodium hydroxide, and calcium chloride—are controlled to modulate the reaction network's behavior.

The output molecule is identified using a mass spectrometer, which allows them to track up to 106 molecules. 

This setup can be used to do calculations, with the reactant concentrations being the input value to any function that needs to be computed.

The team showed that it could predict the behavior of a complex metabolic network model of E. coli, accurately capturing both linear and nonlinear responses to fluctuating inputs across various concentration ranges.

Furthermore, the system demonstrated the ability to forecast future states of a chaotic system (the Lorenz attractor), accurately predicting two out of three input dimensions several hours into the future.

via Institute for Molecules and Materials at Radboud University: Mathieu G. Baltussen et al, Chemical reservoir computation in a self-organizing reaction network, Nature (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07567-x

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Monday, August 5, 2024

Ambient Computing


In addition to the noticeable drop in "wearables" papers released sometime around the pandemic, "ambient energy harvesting" seemed to have the same thing. There wasn't as much papers on this, so it wasn't as noticeable as "wearables". It's like all the papers on these two topics just disappeared for at least a year, maybe two. But now we're getting back into it, so here's a few circa 2024.

The first one is an example of the way The Internet of Everything is going to work. This device can do very (very) basic voice recognition with nothing resembling what we would today call a computer. It just measures the sound energy vibrations when you say the word. Actual things, like coffee cups, pencils, windows and park benches, will be like this, so that everything computes. And it's using ambient energy like sound waves, temperature differences, your own body's electricity, or light, so it doesn't need a power source or maybe even a battery. It would be very hard to convince a person from 1920 that in 2020 the internet would exist, or video chat, or the International Space Station. So for us to think of a world where everything, the matter itself, is a computer, it's hard to imagine, but it's coming, and this is it right here. 


Sound-powered sensors stand to save millions of batteries
Jan 2024, phys.org

"The sensor works purely mechanically and doesn't require an external energy source. It simply utilizes the vibrational energy contained in sound waves"

This energy is then sufficient to generate a tiny electrical pulse that switches on an electronic device that has been switched off.

But it's better than you think - 

It can distinguish between the spoken words "three" and "four." Because the word "four" has more sound energy that resonates with the sensor compared to the word "three," it causes the sensor to vibrate, whereas "three" does not. That means the word "four" could switch on a device or trigger further processes. Nothing would happen with "three."

Newer variants of the sensor should be able to distinguish between up to twelve different words, such as standard machine commands like "on," "off," "up" and "down." 

It's a metamaterial but not one made of rare earths; instead it's made of silicon plates connected to each other via tiny bars that act like springs.

"Our sensor consists purely of silicone and contains neither toxic heavy metals nor any rare earths, as conventional electronic sensors do" 

via ETH Zurich: Tena Dubček et al, In‐Sensor Passive Speech Classification with Phononic Metamaterials, Advanced Functional Materials (2024). DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202311877


Dual-energy harvesting device could power future wireless medical implants
Feb 2024, phys.org

The new device can harvest energy from magnetic field and ultrasound sources simultaneously, converting this energy to electricity to power implants; it can generate 300% higher power than the current state-of-the-art devices.

via Pennsylvania State University: Sumanta Kumar Kumar Karan et al, Magnetic field and ultrasound induced simultaneous wireless energy harvesting, Energy & Environmental Science (2024). DOI: 10.1039/D3EE03889K


This device gathers, stores electricity in remote settings
Apr 2024, phys.org

Novel type of battery called a pyroelectrochemical cell, which uses a composite material of porous polyvinylidene fluoride and barium titanate nanoparticles. This material's electrical properties change as it's heated or cooled, which decreases or increases the polarization of the pyroelectric separator. It's charged by changing temperatures in the surrounding environment, whether it's inside a car or aircraft or just under the soil in an agricultural environment. 

via University of Utah: Tim Kowalchik et al, Direct conversion of thermal energy to stored electrochemical energy via a self-charging pyroelectrochemical cell, Energy & Environmental Science (2024). DOI: 10.1039/D3EE03497F


Salt battery harvests osmotic energy where the river meets the sea
Apr 2024, phys.org

Salt gradients and osmotic energy are sort of ambient energy harvesting.

(Estuaries are where freshwater rivers meet the salty sea; I think any gradient is a reservoir of ambient energy harvesting.)

via School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Guangxi University China: Decoupled Ionic and Electronic Pathways for Enhanced Osmotic Energy Harvesting, ACS Energy Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.4c00320

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Thursday, December 21, 2023

Hold On I Have To Go Plug In My Skin


Sensors built into wearable patches could signal the future
Feb 2023, phys.org

Acoustic transmitter and receiver without any additional antenna.

via Northumbria University: Qian Zhang et al, Multifunctional and Wearable Patches Based on Flexible Piezoelectric Acoustics for Integrated Sensing, Localization, and Underwater Communication, Advanced Functional Materials (2022). DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202209667

Image credit: AI Art - A Cup of Coffee Connected to a Man's Head - 2023

Breakthrough for sweat analysis: 3D-printed wearable sensor
May 2023, phys.org

It's called the "sweatainer", named after the "vacutainer" used in blood sampling. 

via University of Hawaii at Manoa: Chung-Han Wu et al, Skin-interfaced microfluidic systems with spatially engineered 3D fluidics for sweat capture and analysis, Science Advances (2023). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adg4272.


Soft 'e-skin' generates nerve-like impulses that talk to the brain
May 2023, phys.org
"Monolithic e-skin" - soft integrated circuits that convert sensed pressure or temperature to electrical signals similar to the nerve impulses to communicate with the brain, but with low enough operating voltage to be used safely on the human body, and to be one day directed to implanted wireless communication chips in the peripheral nerve to allow amputees to control prosthetic limbs

25-50 microns thick, like a sheet of paper, or the outer layer of human skin, and runs on 5 volts.
via Stanford: Weichen Wang et al, Neuromorphic sensorimotor loop embodied by monolithically integrated, low-voltage, soft e-skin, Science (2023). DOI: 10.1126/science.ade0086

AI Art - Head Made of Recursive Speakers 3 - 2022

AI powers second-skin-like wearable tech
May 2023, phys.org

Ultra-thin wearable patch worn on the neck has three layers to measure speech, neck movement, touch, breathing and heart rates

via Monash University: Shu Gong et al, Hierarchically resistive skins as specific and multimetric on-throat wearable biosensors, Nature Nanotechnology (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41565-023-01383-6


Wearable textile captures energy from body movement to power devices
Jun 2023, phys.org

"Triboelectric wearable textile that can convert body movement into useable electricity and even store that energy, using graphene oxide fiber for use in a coaxial fiber-shaped supercapacitor."

This used to sound cool, but it's funny how things change, and under the shadow of surveillance capitalism this now sounds like an absolute nightmare:

"In the future, if advanced fabrics can be developed, then perhaps wearable electronic devices integrated into shirts, pants, underwear and hats will be able to track indicators of frailty to assess risk of age-related disease, monitor cortisol levels to track stress levels, or even detect pathogens as part of a global pandemic monitoring network."

via Tsinghua University: Feifan Sheng et al, Wearable energy harvesting-storage hybrid textiles as on-body self-charging power systems, Nano Research Energy (2023). DOI: 10.26599/NRE.2023.9120079


Making headway in precision therapeutics with novel fully organic bioelectronic device
Jul 2023, phys.org 

The first stand-alone, conformable, fully organic bioelectronic device that can not only acquire and transmit neurophysiologic brain signals, but can also provide power for device operation. Uses sub-micron IGT (internal-ion-gated organic electrochemical transistor) architecture.

via Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science: Claudia Cea et al, Integrated internal ion-gated organic electrochemical transistors for stand-alone conformable bioelectronics, Nature Materials (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41563-023-01599-w

AI Art - Head Made of Recursive Speakers 4 - 2022

New wearable sensor sets record for solar power efficiency
Jul 2023, phys.org

Biosensors capable of reading out levels of salts, sugars, uric acid, amino acids, vitamins, and C-reactive proteins, and is powered with a flexible perovskite solar cell (FPSC) which is particularly well suited to indoor lighting emission spectrum. (Also mentions that it's assembled in an origami-like fashion).

via Heritage Medical Research Institute, Johannes Kepler University Linz in Austria, and California Institute of Technology: Min, J. et al. An autonomous wearable biosensor powered by a perovskite solar cell. Nature Electronics (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41928-023-00996-y


Screen-printed, flexible sensors allow earbuds to record brain activity and exercise levels
Sep 2023, phys.org

Flexible sensors screen printed onto earbuds to record the electrical activity of the brain as well as levels of lactate in the body.

via University of California - San Diego: In-ear integrated sensor array for the continuous monitoring of brain activity and of lactate in sweat, Nature Biomedical Engineering (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41551-023-01095-1


New wearable sensor makes continuous analysis of sweat possible, researchers say
Sep 2023, phys.org

Whereas low biomarker concentration levels in sweat and variability of other factors such as pH, salinity and temperature have pushed previous sweat biosensors past the limits of their detection and accuracy, this laser-modified graphene nanocomposite material can detect specific glucose levels in sweat for three weeks while simultaneously monitoring body temperature and pH levels

via Penn State: Farnaz Lorestani et al, A Highly Sensitive and Long‐Term Stable Wearable Patch for Continuous Analysis of Biomarkers in Sweat, Advanced Functional Materials (2023). DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202306117


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Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Free Thermodynamic Lunch


There is a lot of extra energy lying around; you call almost call it free energy, and we are getting better at picking up all these scraps. And what are we doing with it? Making everything intelligent.

Battery-free, light-powered pacemaker may improve quality of life for heart disease patients
Oct 2022, phys.org

Wireless, battery-free pacemaker could be implanted with a less invasive procedure using a new digitally manufactured mesh design that encompasses the entire heart that works with optogenetics, which means it uses light instead of electrical signals. 

via Gutruf Lab at University of Arizona: Jokubas Ausra et al, Wireless, fully implantable cardiac stimulation and recording with on-device computation for closed-loop pacing and defibrillation, Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq7469


High-performance and compact vibration energy harvester created for self-charging wearable devices
Nov 2022, phys.org

Microelectromechanical system piezoelectric vibration energy harvester that can amplify power generated from impulsive vibrations, such as from a human walking.

via  Osaka Metropolitan University: Sengsavang Aphayvong et al, Enhanced performance on piezoelectric MEMS vibration energy harvester by dynamic magnifier under impulsive force, Applied Physics Letters (2022). DOI: 10.1063/5.0116838


Harvesting big energy from small movement
Jan 2023, phys.org

It's made of alternating tiny fibers 100 times thinner than a human hair, one made of ethylene-vinyl acetate, and one of polylactic acid.

Wherever there is any movement around the layers of the fibers, electricity is generated from the friction between each layer.

"We can make around 400 times more electricity from motion than was previously possible from these materials."

via University of Melbourne: Artis Linarts et al, Electrospinning Triboelectric Laminates: A Pathway for Scaling Energy Harvesters, Small (2023). DOI: 10.1002/smll.202205563


Harvesting energy from moving trains
Jan 2023, phys.org

After several years of design review, CVeSS researchers created a new kind of tie that replaces the conventional wooden variety and is equipped to generate power. Their high-tech tie, placed underneath the rail, is topped with a heavy metal bar mounted on a spring creating electricity, which can then be stored in a battery.

"For every wheel of the train that goes by, we are harvesting 15 to 20 watts of power," said Ahmadian. "If we have a long train with maybe 200 railcars, that's 800 wheels, making 1.6 kilowatts. Once we have stored that energy, we are able to use it to make the tracks more intelligent by embedding sensors in them."

via Virginia Tech Center for Vehicle Systems and Safety and Railway Technologies Laboratory: Yu Pan et al, A half-wave electromagnetic energy-harvesting tie towards safe and intelligent rail transportation, Applied Energy (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.118844


Device transmits radio waves with almost no power—without violating the laws of physics
Jan 2023, phys.org via The Conversation

What we showed is that a powered signal source is not needed. Instead, random thermal noise, present in all electrically conductive materials because of the heat-driven motion of electrons, can take the place of the signal driving the antenna.

It seems like it violate the second law of thermodynamics. But the resolution of this seeming paradox is that the receiver in our system is powered and acts like a refrigerator. Nearly all of the power consumption happens at a base station that does not have constraints on energy use.

via University of Washington: Zerina Kapetanovic et al, Communication by means of modulated Johnson noise, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2201337119

Image credit: Kilonova Gamma Ray Burst GRB 211211A, artist impression. Aaron M Geller, Northwestern CIERA and IT Research Computing Services. 2022

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Friday, December 16, 2022

Wearing the Future


Encrypted, one-touch, human-machine interface technology unveils user physiology
Sep 2022, phys.org

"Cryptographic bio-human machine interface," or CB-HMI, uses thin hydrogel-coated chemical sensors to collect and detect particular circulating molecules on the skin through natural perspiration.

via UCLA and Stanford: Shuyu Lin et al, A touch-based multimodal and cryptographic bio-human–machine interface, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2201937119



First electronic skin with a mesh structure for long-term attachment with no discomfort
Oct 2022, phys.org

World's first nanomesh-structured electronic skin device (organic field-effect transistor) that can measure and process bio-signals for a prolonged period.

via Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology: Gihyeok Gwon et al, An All‐Nanofiber‐Based Substrate‐Less, Extremely Conformal, and Breathable Organic Field Effect Transistor for Biomedical Applications, Advanced Functional Materials (2022). DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202204645


Standalone sweat sensor provides immediate readout
Oct 2022, phys.org

Fully-integrated soft skin patch includes all the essential components that are required for wearable sensors: two integrated batteries, a microcontroller, sensors, the circuit, and a stretchable non-light-emitting display called electrochromic display.

via University of California San Diego: Lu Yin et al, A stretchable epidermal sweat sensing platform with an integrated printed battery and electrochromic display, Nature Electronics (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41928-022-00843-6


A high-resolution, wearable electrotactile rendering device that virtualizes the sense of touch
Oct 2022, phys.org

Wearable tactile rendering system can mimic the sensation of touch with high spatial resolution and a rapid response rate.

High-frequency alternating stimulation strategy lowering the operating voltage under 30 V allows it to be non-invasive, but also they used a novel super-resolution strategy that can render tactile sensation at locations between physical electrodes, instead of only at the electrode locations.

via City University of Hong Kong and Tencent's Robotics X Laboratory: Weikang Lin et al, Super-resolution wearable electrotactile rendering system, Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abp8738

AI Art - Enveloper - 2022

Printable circuits that can work on fabric, plastic and even fruit
Oct 2022, phys.org

Method of creating liquid metal circuitry using a desktop laser printer that could place the electronics onto many types of surfaces.

via Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tianjin University, China: Rui Guo et al, Thermal Transfer-Enabled Rapid Printing of Liquid Metal Circuits on Multiple Substrates, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces (2022). DOI: 10.1021/acsami.2c08743


Skin-like electronics could monitor your health continuously
Nov 2022, phys.org

Wearables became skin at some point.

via Argonne National Laboratory: Shilei Dai et al, Intrinsically stretchable neuromorphic devices for on-body processing of health data with artificial intelligence, Matter (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.matt.2022.07.016


Researchers eye embroidery as low-cost solution for making wearable electronics
Nov 2022, phys.org

Embroidering power-generating yarns onto fabric has allowed researchers to embed a self-powered, numerical touch-pad and movement sensors into clothing. 

via North Carolina State University: Yu Chen et al, Flexible, durable, and washable triboelectric yarn and embroidery for self-powered sensing and human-machine interaction, Nano Energy (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2022.107929


A self-powered ingestible sensor opens new avenues for gut research
Dec 2022, phys.org

Wearables vs ingestibles:

Battery-free, pill-shaped ingestible biosensing system designed to provide continuous monitoring in the intestinal environment.

via University of California San Diego: Ernesto De la Paz et al, A self-powered ingestible wireless biosensing system for real-time in situ monitoring of gastrointestinal tract metabolites, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35074-y


Compliant and conductive carbon nanomaterial for on-skin electronics
Nov 2022, phys.org

Carbon nanomaterial called hydrogen-substituted graphdiyne (HsGDY) coupled with a single-crystal copper catalyst provides an inherent softness and flexibility that is ideal for on-skin applications.

via King Abdullah University of Science and Technology: Yichen Cai et al, Graphdiyne-Based Nanofilms for Compliant On-Skin Sensing, ACS Nano (2022). DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.2c06169

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Monday, October 31, 2022

Energy Everywhere


'Night-time solar' technology can now deliver power in the dark
May 2022, phys.org

A semiconductor device called a thermoradiative diode, composed of materials found in night-vision goggles, was used to generate power from the emission of infrared light.

via University of New South Wales School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering: Michael P. Nielsen et al, Thermoradiative Power Conversion from HgCdtTe Photodiodes and Their Current–Voltage Characteristics, ACS Photonics (2022). DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.2c00223

The image shows a piece of Comet Leonard's tail breaking off and being carried away by the solar wind; said to be one of the best comet photographs in history by astronomer Dr Ed Bloomer, one of the competition judges.


A thermal management material that responds to heat or cold by folding or unfolding without need for a power source
Sep 2022, phys.org

Made with polymer subunits each designed to behave differently depending on ambient temperature: the material would lay flat under normal conditions until the ambient temperature reached a certain point. At that point, the top layer would roll itself up into a tube, exposing the dark substrate below. They suggest it could be a thermal management device that requires zero energy to run.

via Nankai University: Quan Zhang et al, Bioinspired zero-energy thermal-management device based on visible and infrared thermochromism for all-season energy saving, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2207353119


Inexpensive device that can harvest energy from a light breeze and store it as electricity
Oct 2022, phys.org
 
When exposed to winds with a velocity as low as 2 meters per second (about 5 mph), the device can produce a voltage of three volts and generate electricity power of up to 290 microwatts, which is sufficient to power a commercial sensor device and for it to also send the data to a mobile phone or a computer. The device can easily be mounted on the sides of buildings.

via Nanyang Technological University, Singapore: Chaoyang Zhao et al, A cantilever-type vibro-impact triboelectric energy harvester for wind energy harvesting, Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.ymssp.2022.109185


Dancers' moves help to power Glasgow music venue
Oct 2022, BBC News

Glasgow arts venue SWG3 has switched on a system that creates renewable energy from the body heat on its dancefloor.

Dancers' heat is piped via a carrier fluid to 200m (650ft) bore holes that can be charged like a thermal battery.

The energy then travels back to the heat pumps, is upgraded to a suitable temperature and emitted back into SWG3.

The owners say this will enable them to completely disconnect the venue's gas boilers, reducing its carbon emissions by about 70 tonnes of CO2 a year.

"When you start dancing, medium pace, to the Rolling Stones or something, you might be generating 250W.

"But if you've got a big DJ, absolutely slamming basslines and making everyone jump up and down, you could be generating 500-600W of thermal energy."


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Wednesday, October 5, 2022

Wood 2.0


Toward customizable timber, grown in a lab
May 2022, phys.org

Tunable technique to generate wood-like plant material in a lab, which could enable someone to "grow" a wooden product like a table without needing to cut down trees, process lumber, etc.

"The idea is that you can grow these plant materials in exactly the shape that you need, so you don't need to do any subtractive manufacturing."

Researchers first isolate cells from the leaves of young Zinnia elegans plants, culture them in liquid medium for two days, then transfer them to a gel-based medium of nutrients and hormones. Adjusting the hormones enables researchers to tune the physical and mechanical properties of the plant cells that grow in that nutrient-rich broth. Then a 3D printer extrudes the gel into a structure in a petri dish, it incubates for three months (two orders of magnitude faster than it takes to grow a mature tree).

"In the human body, you have hormones that determine how your cells develop and how certain traits emerge. In the same way, by changing the hormone concentrations in the nutrient broth, the plant cells respond differently. Just by manipulating these tiny chemical quantities, we can elicit pretty dramatic changes in terms of the physical outcomes," Beckwith says.

via MIT: Ashley L. Beckwith et al, Physical, mechanical, and microstructural characterization of novel, 3D-printed, tunable, lab-grown plant materials generated from Zinnia elegans cell cultures, Materials Today (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.mattod.2022.02.012

Image credit: AI Art - Wooden Futures: a complex building, large wood joinery, dowels and pegs, people walking, architectural photography. https://lexica.art/prompt/a0440fb8-21cb-4fd8-87e9-59a727ab7511


New artificial enzyme breaks down tough, woody lignin: Study shows promise for developing a new renewable energy source
Jun 2022, phys.org

"This is the first nature-mimetic enzyme which we know can efficiently digest lignin to produce compounds that can be used as biofuels and for chemical production," added Chun-Long Chen.

(Why not "biomimetic" though?)

via Pacific Northwest National Laboratory: Highly stable and tunable peptoid/hemin enzymatic mimetics with natural peroxidase-like activities, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30285-9


Researchers envision wood-derived, self-powered biosensors for wireless devices
Jun 2022, phys.org

Lignocellulosic nanofibrils derived from tree bark are used in a self-powered device for sending  wireless signals to a smartphone via bluetooth. Leaving about 30 percent lignin in the nanofibrils improved their performance as tribonegative materials. The principle behind the innovation is the trioboelectric effect, a form of static electricity. 

Simply by tapping the device on an acrylic plate during testing, the prototype was able to generate enough power to send out a radio-frequency ping every three minutes that was picked up by a nearby smartphone.

In theory, such a device could be inserted into the sole of a shoe to power a biosensor that sends data wirelessly.

And PFAS Free FYI:
Most current designs incorporate synthetic materials such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), also known under the brand name Teflon. However, this material persists for long periods of time in the environment and concerns have been raised about its potential health effects.

Yan and her team wanted to see if it was possible to create a natural, biodegradable substitute.

This device was able to generate 160 percent more voltage and 140 percent more current when compared with a similar device that used PTFE as the tribonegative layer.

via University of Toronto: Nicolas R. Tanguy et al, Natural lignocellulosic nanofibrils as tribonegative materials for self-powered wireless electronics, Nano Energy (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2022.107337



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Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Skin So Soft


AKA Wearable Skin Asks What's My Retronym

New 'fabric' converts motion into electricity
Jun 2022, phys.org

In a proof-of-concept experiment reported in the scientific journal Advanced Materials in April, the NTU Singapore team showed that tapping on a 3cm by 4cm piece of the new fabric generated enough electrical energy to light up 100 LEDs (capable of 2.34 watts per square meter).

The electricity-generating fabric is an energy harvesting device that turns vibrations produced from the smallest body movements in everyday life into electricity either when pressed or squashed (piezoelectricity), or when in friction with other materials (triboelectric effect).

This stretchable electrode made by screenprinting an "ink" comprising silver and styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene (SEBS) is then attached to a piece of nanofibre fabric made of poly(vinylidene fluoride)-co-hexafluoropropylene (PVDFHPF), and lead-free perovskites.

Very new meaning to Rainwater Harvesting:
The team recently developed a type of film that could potentially be mounted on roofs or walls to harness the energy produced from wind or raindrops falling onto the film.

via Nanyang Technological University: Feng Jiang et al, Stretchable, Breathable, and Stable Lead‐Free Perovskite/Polymer Nanofiber Composite for Hybrid Triboelectric and Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting, Advanced Materials (2022). DOI: 10.1002/adma.202200042

Image credit: interband collective excitations in twisted bilayer graphene, Matteo Ceccanti, 2021 [link] 


Artificial skin gives robots sense of touch and beyond
Jun 2022, phys.org

This new skin technology is part of a robotic platform that integrates the artificial skin with a robotic arm and sensors that attach to human skin. A machine-learning system that interfaces the two allows the human user to control the robot with their own movements while receiving feedback through their own skin.

Called the M-Bot:

Gelatinous hydrogel makes robot fingertips a lot more like our own, and are embedded with sensors to detect the world around it. These sensors are literally printed onto the skin in the same way that an inkjet printer applies text to a sheet of paper.

Some applications:

"Graphene impregnated with platinum detects the explosive TNT very quickly and selectively. For a virus, we are printing carbon nanotubes, which have very high surface area, and attaching antibodies for the virus to them. This is all mass producible and scalable."

via California Institute of Technology: You Yu et al, All-printed soft human-machine interface for robotic physicochemical sensing, Science Robotics (2022). DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.abn0495


Artificial skin capable of feeling pain could lead to new generation of touch-sensitive robots
Jun 2022, phys.org

Artificial skin with a new type of processing system based on "synaptic transistors," which mimics the brain's neural pathways in order to learn to react to external stimuli.

Data from the electronic skin sensors is usually sent to a computer to be processed and interpreted, but that data is too big, introducing delays.

The Glasgow team uses the human peripheral nervous system as inspiration with artificial synapses on a circuit built into the skin that process stimuli at the point of contact, reducing it to only the vital information before it is sent to the brain. 

The team used the varying output of that voltage spike to teach the skin appropriate responses to simulated pain, which would trigger the robot hand to react. By setting a threshold of input voltage to cause a reaction, the team could make the robot hand recoil from a sharp jab in the center of its palm.

via University of Glasgow: Fengyuan Liu et al, Printed Synaptic Transistors based Electronic Skin for Robots to Feel and Learn, Science Robotics (2022). DOI: 10.1126/scirobotics.abl7286.

Intel's new Core i9-11980HK leads the 11th-gen laptop CPU lineup

Scientists develop novel pain-perception biomimetic skin enabled by strain-perception-strengthening effect
Jun 2022, phys.org

Proposed strain-perception-strengthening (SPS) enabled biomimetic soft skin, which realizes the dynamic transformation from tactile to pain perception.

Elastic and conductive film (ECF), composed of elastomeric thin-film and assembled graphene nanosheets with an interlocked structural interface.

Pufferfish-inspired.

via Chinese Academy of Sciences Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering: Peng Xiao et al, Biomimetic Skins Enable Strain‐Perception‐Strengthening Soft Morphing, Advanced Functional Materials (2022). DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202201812


Researchers develop a wearable textile exomuscle
Jun 2022, phys.org

The Myoshirt: a soft, wearable exomuscle for the upper body

via ETH Zurich: Anna-Maria Georgarakis et al, A textile exomuscle that assists the shoulder during functional movements for everyday life, Nature Machine Intelligence (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s42256-022-00495-3


Rubbery camouflage skin exhibits smart and stretchy behaviors
Jun 2022, phys.org

Artificially intelligent bioelectronic skin devices that mimics both the elasticity and the neurologic functions of cephalopod skin, with potential applications for neurorobotics, skin prosthetics, artificial organs and more.  

"Although several artificial camouflage skin devices have been recently developed, they lack critical noncentralized neuromorphic processing and cognition capabilities, and materials with such capabilities lack robust mechanical properties," Yu said. "Our recently developed soft synaptic devices have achieved brain-inspired computing and artificial nervous systems that are sensitive to touch and light that retain these neuromorphic functions when biaxially stretched."  

The Future: Where every molecule computes, and every desire an algorithm (long live the mass transference device).

via Pennsylvania State University: Hyunseok Shim et al, Artificial neuromorphic cognitive skins based on distributed biaxially stretchable elastomeric synaptic transistors, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2204852119


Personal health trackers may include smart face mask, other wearables
Jun 2022, phys.org

Metallic conductor called MoO2 for a bioelectronic facemask.

via University of Missouri: Zhilu Ye et al, A Breathable, Reusable, and Zero-Power Smart Face Mask for Wireless Cough and Mask-Wearing Monitoring, ACS Nano (2022). DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.1c11041

And: Ganggang Zhao et al, Laser-scribed conductive, photoactive transition metal oxide on soft elastomers for Janus on-skin electronics and soft actuators, Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abp9734


Future robots could 'see' using new type of electronic skin
Jul 2022, phys.org

The breakthrough development involves a newly-developed method of printing microscale semiconductors made from gallium arsenide onto a flexible plastic surface, and which could provide future robots with an electronic skin capable of "seeing" light beyond the range of human vision.

via University of Glasgow: Ayoub Zumeit et al, Printed GaAs Microstructures‐Based Flexible High‐Performance Broadband Photodetectors, Advanced Materials Technologies (2022). DOI: 10.1002/admt.202200772


Hearing better with skin than ears: Research team develops a sound-sensing skin-attachable acoustic sensor
Jul 2022, phys.org

"auditory electronic skin"

Microelectro-mechanical systems (MEMS)-based microphone structure using polymer materials, a quarter of a fingernail in size and thickness of a few hundred micrometers. The microphone can be attached to large surface areas of the body or even on the finger.

The research team plans to create auditory electronic skin by integrating it with skin-attachable pressure and temperature sensors, flexible displays, and others.

via Pohang University of Science & Technology: Siyoung Lee et al, A High‐Fidelity Skin‐Attachable Acoustic Sensor for Realizing Auditory Electronic Skin, Advanced Materials (2022). DOI: 10.1002/adma.202109545


Artificial skin sweats on command
Jul 2022, phys.org

Sweats on command.

via Eindhoven University of Technology: Yuanyuan Zhan et al, Light‐ and Field‐Controlled Diffusion, Ejection, Flow and Collection of Liquid at a Nanoporous Liquid Crystal Membrane, Angewandte Chemie International Edition (2022). DOI: 10.1002/anie.202207468


Stretchy computing device feels like skin—but analyzes health data with brain-mimicking artificial intelligence
Aug 2022, phys.org

Rather than work like a typical computer, the chip — called a neuromorphic computing chip — functions more like a human brain, able to both store and analyze data in an integrated way.

via University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering: Shilei Dai et al, Intrinsically stretchable neuromorphic devices for on-body processing of health data with artificial intelligence, Matter (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.matt.2022.07.016


Researchers engineer biofilm capable of producing long-term, continuous electricity from your sweat
Aug 2022, phys.org

Biofilm that harvests the energy in evaporation and converts it to electricity.

That's because this biofilm—a thin sheet of bacterial cells about the thickness of a sheet of paper—is produced naturally by an engineered version of the bacteria Geobacter sulfurreducens. G. sulfurreducens is known to produce electricity and has been used previously in "microbial batteries" to power electrical devices. But such batteries require that G. sulfurreducens is properly cared for and fed a constant diet. By contrast, this new biofilm, which can supply as much, if not more, energy than a comparably sized battery, works, and works continuously, because it is dead. And because it's dead, it doesn't need to be fed.

It makes energy from the moisture on your skin. Since the surface of our skin is constantly moist with sweat, the biofilm can "plug-in" and convert the energy locked in evaporation into enough energy to power small devices.

via University of Massachusetts Amherst: Xiaomeng Liu et al, Microbial biofilms for electricity generation from water evaporation and power to wearables, Nature Communications (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32105-6


Wearable technology measures mental activity through the skin
Aug 2022, phys.org

Measures mental activity using electrodermal activity — an electrical phenomenon of the skin that is influenced by brain activity related to emotional status.

The overarching goal—a Multimodal Intelligent Noninvasive brain state Decoder for Wearable AdapTive Closed-loop arcHitectures, or MINDWATCH.

via NYU Tandon School of Engineering: Rafiul Amin et al, Physiological characterization of electrodermal activity enables scalable near real-time autonomic nervous system activation inference, PLOS Computational Biology (2022). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010275


Engineers fabricate a chip-free, wireless, electronic 'skin'
Aug 2022, phys.org

Conforms to the skin like electronic Scotch tape, using a film of piezoelectric gallium nitride paired with a conducting layer of gold.

The device was sensitive enough to vibrate in response to a person's heartbeat, as well as the salt in their sweat, and that the material's vibrations generated an electrical signal that could be read by a nearby receiver to wirelessly transmit sensing information, without the need for a chip or battery.

via MIT: Yeongin Kim et al, Chip-less wireless electronic skins by remote epitaxial freestanding compound semiconductors, Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126/science.abn7325.


A flexible device that harvests thermal energy to power wearable electronics
Aug 2022, phys.org

First-of-its kind flexible, wearable thermoelectric device that converts body heat to electricity. 

via University of Washington: Youngshang Han et al, Printing Liquid Metal Elastomer Composites for High‐Performance Stretchable Thermoelectric Generators, Advanced Energy Materials (2022). DOI: 10.1002/aenm.202201413


Self-charging, ultra-thin device that generates electricity from air moisture
Aug 2022, phys.org

Moisture-driven electricity generation (MEG) device containing two regions of different properties to perpetually maintain a difference in water content across the regions to generate electricity and allow for electrical output for hundreds of hours.

The device is a thin layer of commercially available fabric made of wood pulp and polyester and coated with carbon nanoparticles.

via National University of Singapore: Yaoxin Zhang et al, An Asymmetric Hygroscopic Structure for Moisture‐Driven Hygro‐Ionic Electricity Generation and Storage, Advanced Materials (2022). DOI: 10.1002/adma.202201228


A wearable textile-based pneumatic energy harvesting system for assistive robotics
Aug 2022, phys.org

Engineers have built a handy extra limb able to grasp objects and go, powered only by compressed air.

(Similar to, but not the same as, the "dead spider" robot approach)

via Rice University: Rachel A. Shveda et al, A wearable textile-based pneumatic energy harvesting system for assistive robotics, Science Advances (2022). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abo2418


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