Sustainably powering wearable electronics solely by biomechanical energy

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 12744 - 8
• Main Authors: Wang, Jie, Li, Shengming, Yi, Fang, Zi, Yunlong, Lin, Jun, Wang, Xiaofeng, Xu, Youlong, Wang, Zhong Lin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 28.09.2016; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 639/4077/4072/4062; 639/4077/4079/4105; Biomechanics; Design; Electricity; Electrodes; Electronics; Energy; Humanities and Social Sciences; Isotropy; multidisciplinary; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Structural engineering; Textiles; Wearable computers; Beijing China; Georgia; United States > US; China
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms12744

Harvesting biomechanical energy is an important route for providing electricity to sustainably drive wearable electronics, which currently still use batteries and therefore need to be charged or replaced/disposed frequently. Here we report an approach that can continuously power wearable electronics only by human motion, realized through a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) with optimized materials and structural design. Fabricated by elastomeric materials and a helix inner electrode sticking on a tube with the dielectric layer and outer electrode, the TENG has desirable features including flexibility, stretchability, isotropy, weavability, water-resistance and a high surface charge density of 250 μC m −2 . With only the energy extracted from walking or jogging by the TENG that is built in outsoles, wearable electronics such as an electronic watch and fitness tracker can be immediately and continuously powered. Harvesting bio-mechanical energy is a promising route to powering wearable electronics, however design obstacles remain. Here the authors report on a triboelectric nanogenerator with optimized materials and design that can sustainably power an electronic watch and fitness tracker solely by human motion.