Journal
NPJ FLEXIBLE ELECTRONICS
Volume 5, Issue 1, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PORTFOLIO
DOI: 10.1038/s41528-021-00101-3
Keywords
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Funding
- Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technologies (ASSIST), a Nano-Systems Engineering Research Center - National Science Foundation [EEC1160483]
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Flexible thermoelectric generators have been developed in this study to efficiently convert body heat into electrical energy, using low thermal conductivity aerogel-silicone composite and stretchable eutectic gallium-indium liquid metal interconnects. The results show promising potential for these wearable devices to serve as the main energy source for low-power health monitoring electronics.
Harvesting body heat using thermoelectricity provides a promising path to realizing self-powered, wearable electronics that can achieve continuous, long-term, uninterrupted health monitoring. This paper reports a flexible thermoelectric generator (TEG) that provides efficient conversion of body heat to electrical energy. The device relies on a low thermal conductivity aerogel-silicone composite that secures and thermally isolates the individual semiconductor elements that are connected in series using stretchable eutectic gallium-indium (EGaIn) liquid metal interconnects. The composite consists of aerogel particulates mixed into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) providing as much as 50% reduction in the thermal conductivity of the silicone elastomer. Worn on the wrist, the flexible TEGs present output power density figures approaching 35 mu Wcm(-2) at an air velocity of 1.2 ms(-1), equivalent to walking speed. The results suggest that these flexible TEGs can serve as the main energy source for low-power wearable electronics.
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