{"id":175169,"date":"2021-02-10T22:00:02","date_gmt":"2021-02-10T19:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/new-wearable-device-turns-the-body-into-a-battery\/"},"modified":"2021-02-10T22:00:02","modified_gmt":"2021-02-10T19:00:02","slug":"new-wearable-device-turns-the-body-into-a-battery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/new-wearable-device-turns-the-body-into-a-battery\/","title":{"rendered":"#New wearable device turns the body into a battery"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#New wearable device turns the body into a battery<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\n A thermoelectric power generator worn as a ring. Credit: Xiao Lab
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Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed a new, low-cost wearable device that transforms the human body into a biological battery.<\/p>\n

The device, described today in the journal Science<\/a> Advances,<\/i> is stretchy enough that you can wear it like a ring, a bracelet or any other accessory that touches your skin. It also taps into a person’s natural heat\u2014employing thermoelectric generators to convert the body’s internal temperature into electricity.<\/p>\n

“In the future, we want to be able to power your wearable electronics without having to include a battery,” said Jianliang Xiao, senior author of the new paper and an associate professor in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering at CU Boulder.<\/p>\n

The concept may sound like something out of The Matrix film series<\/a>, in which a race of robots have enslaved humans to harvest their precious organic energy. Xiao and his colleagues aren’t that ambitious: Their devices can generate about 1 volt of energy for every square centimeter of skin space\u2014less voltage per area than what most existing batteries provide but still enough to power electronics like watches or fitness trackers.<\/p>\n

Scientists have previously experimented with similar thermoelectric wearable devices, but Xiao’s is stretchy, can heal itself when damaged and is fully recyclable\u2014making it a cleaner alternative to traditional electronics.<\/p>\n

“Whenever you use a battery, you’re depleting that battery and will, eventually, need to replace it,” Xiao said. “The nice thing about our thermoelectric device is that you can wear it, and it provides you with constant power.”<\/p>\n

High-tech bling<\/b><\/p>\n

The project isn’t Xiao’s first attempt to meld human with robot. He and his colleagues previously experimented with designing “electronic skin,” wearable devices that look, and behave, much like real human skin. That android epidermis, however, has to be connected to an external power source to work.<\/p>\n

Until now. The group’s latest innovation begins with a base made out of a stretchy material called polyimine. The scientists then stick a series of thin thermoelectric chips into that base, connecting them all with liquid metal wires. The final product looks like a cross between a plastic bracelet and a miniature computer motherboard or maybe a techy diamond ring.<\/p>\n


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