Engineers successfully developed a new wearable microgrid that could transform a human's sweat into energy. This means that you can create energy by running, walking, jogging, or any physical movement if you use this.
According to SciTech Daily's latest report, the University of California San Diego's nano-engineers were the ones that developed this new amazing technology. It can store and harvest energy from the human body to small power electronics. However, there is no confirmation if the energy it produces is enough to power a smartphone or other daily gadgets.
The new wearable microgrid is composed of three main parts--these motion-powered devices are called triboelectric generators, energy-storing supercapacitors, and sweat-powered biofuel cells.
The study was published in the journal Nature Communications on Mar. 9.
How the new wearable microgrid works
E&T Magazine reported that the new wearable microgrid was tested on a human subject during 30-minute sessions. These experiments are consisted of ten minutes of cycling, running, or exercising.
Also Read: Turning Sahara Into a Massive Solar Farm May Not be Good for the Earth, Scientists Find Evidence
The engineers showed that the energy generated by the new wearable tech was enough to power an LCD wristwatch or a small electrochromic display, which is a device that changes color in response to an applied voltage.
"We're applying the concept of the microgrid to create wearable systems that are powered sustainably, reliably, and independently," said Lu Yin, the co-first author of the study and a nanoengineering Ph.D. student at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, via E&T Magazine.
"Just like a city microgrid integrates a variety of local, renewable power sources like wind and solar, a wearable microgrid integrates devices that locally harvest energy from different parts of the body, like sweat and movement, while containing energy storage," added the engineer.
Where will you put it?
The new wearable microgrid is specifically designed to harvest your sweat. This means that its biofuel cells need to be put inside the user's shirt, specifically at the chest part. On the other hand, its triboelectric generators are placed outside the shirt on the torso's forearms and sides near the waist. If you want to know more details, just click here.
For more news updates about innovations that create energy, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.
Related Article: Hoverboard Coming? Researchers Use Light to Make a Plastic Float-NASA Interested in the Technology!
This article is owned by TechTimes,
Written by: Giuliano de Leon.
