Wearable Electronics Based on the Gel Thermogalvanic Electrolyte for Self-Powered Human Health Monitoring

Abstract

There is always a temperature difference of more than 10 degrees between the human body, as a sustainable heat source, and the ambient temperature. Converting body heat into electricity that in turn is used to drive personal medical electronics is of significance in smart wearable medicine. To avoid the frangibility and complex preparation of traditional thermoelectric materials, we fabricated a gel electrolyte-based thermogalvanic generator with Fe 3+ /Fe 2+ as a redox pair, which presents not only moderate thermoelectric performance but also excellent flexibility. With a micropore-widespread polyvinylidene fluoride diaphragm implanted in the gel, a thermal barrier was created between the two halves, effectively improving the Seebeck coefficient by reducing its thermal conductivity. Considering the superior temperature response of the gel, a self-powered body temperature monitoring system was established by conformally affixing it to the forehead. Meanwhile, the gel patch with a high specific heat capacity can effectively cool down fever patients. This work may offer a new train of thought for exploiting self-powered wearable medical electronics by scavenging low-grade body heat.

Parametric investigation of an injection-jet self-powered Fontan circulation

“…Hence, the jet-pump power originates from the cardiovascular system itself, effectively making this a self-powered pump, as opposed to externally powered pumps such as ventricular assist devices with ex-vivo power sources. In some sense, our self-powered IJS approach is in the spirit of mechanical or thermal energy harvesters that avoid external power requirements for implanted biomedical devices 44 , 45 .…”

A Review of Fabrication Technologies for Carbon Electrode-Based Micro-Supercapacitors

“…Importantly, advances in nanotechnology have facilitated the ever further miniaturization of electronic devices [2,3]. The progress in wearable electronics also drives a huge need for the development of wearable energy devices to power those electronics [4][5][6][7] for applications, such as human health monitoring [8,9], intelligent electronic skins [10][11][12][13], foldable displays [14][15][16], and medical microdevices [17,18]. Batteries and supercapacitors are commonly used as energy storage units, but they are generally bulky and rigid, which is not ideal for wearable devices [19][20][21][22].…”

Wearable Electronics Powered by Triboelectrification between Hair and Cloth for Monitoring Body Motions

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] Inspired by the triboelectric effect between clothes during human movement, many studies have achieved energy conversion and biosensing by integrating triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) into the fabrics that humans wear or by attaching TENG units to human bodies. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14] However, the materials used in the majority of studies were not only complex but also expensive. As a result, choosing natural triboelectric materials is a feasible idea for lowering the cost and processing difficulty of TENGs.…”