Researchers at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) have come up with a stretchable, washable, energy-harvesting fabric that can generate electricity from sweat and body movements.
- In what could be a new chapter of next-generation smart clothes, the fabric devised by two teams from the institute’s Electronic Materials Research Center is capable of both biomechanical and biochemical power generation.
- The research was published in Advanced Energy Materials.
THE FABRIC: The researchers wove two different fabrics, which were equipped with a triboelectric generator (TEG) and a perspiration electric generator (PEG), together to create the new fabric.
- TEGs can transform mechanical power generated from body movements into electric energy.
- PEGs can produce electric energy as liquids such as water and sweat move along the fibres.
- Weaving one TEG through 36 PEGs to create two fabrics for clothing, the researchers succeeded in powering a position tracking sensor, which requires 3V, from only body movements and sweat.
- Additional tests are being conducted to see if it can be utilised as a sensor in smart clothes that can offer various information about the human body.
Market Prospects: KIST has said that the new fabric has a high chance of commercialisation because the electrical output of the upgraded TEGs and PEGs was well maintained after washing it 10 times, and mass production would make the material affordable.
WHAT THEY SAID:
The technology we developed can be used for the sectors of electrical devices for clothing and wearable devices, but we expect it to be applied as a power source for those who are active in extreme environments such as firefighters, soldiers and mountain climbers.
— Song Hyun-cheol (Corresponding Author)
Electronic Materials Research Center
Korea Institute of Science and Technology
