Stretchable and Waterproof Self-Charging Power System for Harvesting Energy from Diverse Deformation and Powering Wearable Electronics

ACS Nano. 2016 Jul 26;10(7):6519-25. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.6b03007. Epub 2016 Jul 1.

Abstract

A soft, stretchable, and fully enclosed self-charging power system is developed by seamlessly combining a stretchable triboelectric nanogenerator with stretchable supercapacitors, which can be subject to and harvest energy from almost all kinds of large-degree deformation due to its fully soft structure. The power system is washable and waterproof owing to its fully enclosed structure and hydrophobic property of its exterior surface. The power system can be worn on the human body to effectively scavenge energy from various kinds of human motion, and it is demonstrated that the wearable power source is able to drive an electronic watch. This work provides a feasible approach to design stretchable, wearable power sources and electronics.

Keywords: self-charging; stretchable; supercapacitor; triboelectric nanogenerator; wearable.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't