A universal self-charging system driven by random biomechanical energy for sustainable operation of mobile electronics

Human biomechanical energy is characterized by fluctuating amplitudes and variable low frequency, and an effective utilization of such energy cannot be achieved by classical energy-harvesting technologies. Here we report a high-efficient self-charging power system for sustainable operation of mobile...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inNature communications Vol. 6; no. 1; p. 8975
Main Authors Niu, Simiao, Wang, Xiaofeng, Yi, Fang, Zhou, Yu Sheng, Wang, Zhong Lin
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Nature Publishing Group 11.12.2015
Subjects
Biomechanical Phenomena
Electric Power Supplies
Electromagnetic Phenomena
Humans
Materials Testing
Nanotechnology
Running
Walking
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Summary:Human biomechanical energy is characterized by fluctuating amplitudes and variable low frequency, and an effective utilization of such energy cannot be achieved by classical energy-harvesting technologies. Here we report a high-efficient self-charging power system for sustainable operation of mobile electronics exploiting exclusively human biomechanical energy, which consists of a high-output triboelectric nanogenerator, a power management circuit to convert the random a.c. energy to d.c. electricity at 60% efficiency, and an energy storage device. With palm tapping as the only energy source, this power unit provides a continuous d.c. electricity of 1.044 mW (7.34 W m(-3)) in a regulated and managed manner. This self-charging unit can be universally applied as a standard 'infinite-lifetime' power source for continuously driving numerous conventional electronics, such as thermometers, electrocardiograph system, pedometers, wearable watches, scientific calculators and wireless radio-frequency communication system, which indicates the immediate and broad applications in personal sensor systems and internet of things.
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These authors contributed equally to this work.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/ncomms9975