{"id":1475,"date":"2020-10-21T21:53:07","date_gmt":"2020-10-21T21:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/horizon.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=1475"},"modified":"2020-10-21T21:53:07","modified_gmt":"2020-10-21T21:53:07","slug":"future-wearable-electronic-clothing-could-be-charged-by-our-own-body-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1475\/future-wearable-electronic-clothing-could-be-charged-by-our-own-body-heat\/","title":{"rendered":"Future wearable electronic clothing could be charged by our own body heat"},"content":{"rendered":"
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by\u00a0Sarah Wild<\/h5>\n

Thanks to\u00a0rapid computing developments<\/a> in the last decade and the miniaturisation of electronic components, people can, for example, track their movements and monitor their health in real time by wearing tiny computers. Researchers are now looking at how best to power these devices by turning to the user\u2019s own body heat and working with garments, polka dots and know-how from the textile industry.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The wearable electronics market is expected to grow to\u00a0\u20ac53bn by 2025<\/a>, but it is dominated by one product \u2013 smartwatches. Outside of this, there are many products in \u2018starting position\u2019, said Dr Matthias Fahland of the Fraunhofer FEP in Germany. One of the field\u2019s main obstacles is storage. \u2018The question of where the energy is coming from, where the battery is, how long it will last, (storage) is the crucial question for everything.\u2019<\/p>\n

A project called\u00a0ThermoTex<\/a>\u00a0is exploring the use of human body heat to power tiny devices. The thermoelectric effect has been known for almost 200 years, according to Professor Christian M\u00fcller of Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. This effect allows heat energy to be converted into electrical energy when there is a temperature difference, such as the difference between a person\u2019s skin and the outside temperature. Electrons move from the hotter part of a material to the cooler one, and this movement of charge generates an electric potential.<\/p>\n

\u2018Heat gradients (differences) are an important power source because they are always there,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

Polymers<\/strong><\/p>\n

ThermoTex has two tracks: fundamental and applied science.<\/p>\n

For its fundamental track, the team tried to design polymers that had better thermoelectric properties than those currently available. One way to tune the thermoelectric effects of polymers, which are long repeating chains of molecules, is through doping. This process creates the electric charge required to generate electricity.<\/p>\n

In 2020 the ThermoTex team published\u00a0a paper in\u00a0<\/a>Nature Materials<\/em><\/a>, showing that by combining polymers with a low\u00a0ionisation energy<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 the energy required to shed an electron \u2013 and a dopant (a molecule added to the polymer) with a high electron affinity, it was possible to double the efficiency of doping.<\/p>\n

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\u2018I think it is very important to interact with the textile industry to use their methods.\u2019<\/p>\n

Prof. Christian M\u00fcller, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden<\/p>\n

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However, there are safety concerns around dopants, particularly when they are used in wearable electronics. \u2018They can be toxic,\u2019 Prof. M\u00fcller said. If they come into contact with your skin they may poison you, he adds.<\/p>\n

The team has studied about 50 different dopants which they will investigate further in a\u00a0large EU-funded project called\u00a0HORATES<\/a>\u00a0beginning in 2021 to develop organic, or\u00a0carbon-based<\/a>,\u00a0thermoelectric generators<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As part of their applied work, ThermoTex bought commercial conducting polymer formulations, which they used to coat silk. While these coatings are not as efficient as some of Prof. M\u00fcller\u2019s lab-made ones, they allowed the project team to start making conducting fabrics and devices. The coated silk could\u00a0power body-monitoring sensors for vitals, for example.<\/p>\n

They stitched the dyed silk strands in long running lines through fabrics, and also embroidered them into small polka dots, which is important, Prof. M\u00fcller says, because when in \u2018dot-form\u2019 the silk is a conduit between the skin and the outside air. Students also wove these silk strands together in a weaving loom.<\/p>\n

\u2018I think it is very important to interact with the textile industry to use their methods,\u2019 he said. \u2018It\u2019s a well-established industry with low profit margins so you can\u2019t come up with some fancy method that no one has.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\"This
This silk embroidered thermoelectric generator could power wearables through body heat. Image credit – Anja Lund<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Platform<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Fraunhofer FEP\u2019s Dr Fahland is also trying to offer the textile industry solutions that it can use in its garments. He is the project leader of\u00a0Smart2Go<\/a>, an 11-member project which aims to create a palm-sized autonomous energy supply platform for wearable electronics.<\/p>\n

The platform integrates energy harvesting such as the energy derived from the thermoelectric effect, storage, and applications for this energy. \u2018The platform is a piece of foil with a lot of functionality,\u2019 Dr Fahland says, adding that you can hold it in your hand. \u2018It\u2019s an interface, connecting the energy harvester to the application. You can specify how the energy is put into the platform and which way it is then led to the application.\u2019<\/p>\n

In terms of applications, Smart2Go is collaborating with industry partners on two different projects.<\/p>\n

Smart2Go is working with a textile and garment manufacturer to integrate its platform with energy harvesting materials for safer workwear.\u00a0This could include features such as lighting up when dark. It is also working with\u00a0a sports and leisure wear company to make garments that can gather information about performance.<\/p>\n

These solutions put many restrictions on the weight and flexibility of the materials, Dr Fahland says. Also, it must be built in such a way that a user can \u2018plug in\u2019 different energy harvesting technologies.<\/p>\n

Smart2Go\u2019s projects rely on sun energy and body heat, but others may include energy generated from movement, or kinetic energy, for example. Project colleagues at Tampere University in Finland are working on supercapacitors for the platform, and these will increase the electric current available to different applications broadening the platform\u2019s possible uses.<\/p>\n

Mobile phone<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, these small energy harvesters can only scavenge so much energy from the environment. ThermoTex\u2019s Prof. M\u00fcller laughs at the idea that the thermoelectric effect could one day be used to power a mobile phone.<\/p>\n

Not only is the harvesting process very inefficient \u2013 he estimates that at most 1% of the heat energy can be harvested and get stored, and that is why they\u2019re trying to develop new materials \u2013 it would make the wearer feel very cold as the device tries to take energy from their body.<\/p>\n

For smaller applications such as sensors to monitor a person\u2019s health, identification tags or safety garments, though, tiny devices that draw small amounts of energy from their surroundings could be the answer.<\/p>\n

The biggest hurdle for wearable electronics may not be technical \u2013 although that has been a major impediment to their development and uptake so far. The ability of wearable devices to collect and store people\u2019s private information, and the security concerns this poses, need to be ironed out for wearable electronics to grow further. ‘There are a lot of legal and data security issues that need to be taken quite seriously,’ said Dr Fahland.<\/p>\n

In the meanwhile, he and others in the field are clearing the obstacles that they can and creating the technology that will pave the way for a future in which our clothing generates energy from our bodies and their environment.<\/p>\n

The research in this article was funded by the EU. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.<\/em><\/p>\n

Published by Horizon\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Sarah Wild Thanks to\u00a0rapid computing developments in the last decade and the miniaturisation of electronic components, people can, for example, track their movements and monitor their health in real time by wearing tiny computers. Researchers are now looking at how best to power these devices by turning to the user\u2019s own body heat and working … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":298,"featured_media":1476,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"generate_page_header":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-energy-environment"],"yoast_head":"\nFuture wearable electronic clothing could be charged by our own body heat - Horizon Magazine Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/horizon\/1475\/future-wearable-electronic-clothing-could-be-charged-by-our-own-body-heat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Future wearable electronic clothing could be charged by our own body heat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by\u00a0Sarah Wild Thanks to\u00a0rapid computing developments in the last decade and the miniaturisation of electronic components, people can, for example, track their movements and monitor their health in real time by wearing tiny computers. 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