Utilization of Body Heat
The Daily Mail reported on April 3 that Chinese scientists have developed a gel-based powercell capable of converting body heat into electrical energy.
According to the UK-based media, with the technology, wearable devices like smartwatches can charge up while on your wrist by incorporating the gel into the straps. Users will no longer need to worry about ensuring their devices are charged up overnight as they will have a constant source of energy while being worn.
The researchers have already created a wearable patch that sticks onto the skin. Dr Jun Zhou from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China who led the research said, “'With the new technology, we can power electronics devices using body heat.”
As the human body, which has a surface temperature of 32 degrees Celsius, can often be tens of degrees warmer than the surrounding environment, this can generate a voltage.
In their prototype, the researchers were able to generate one volt from a prototype patch when it was worn on the skin. An iPhone battery requires 5 volts to charge. The power generated by the patch was also small - just 0.3 microWatts from a square skin patch measuring eight centimeters across.
Dr Zhou said, that it's not enough to charge mobile phones or smart watches at the current stage, but it may be possible to improve the power in the future. He said, “Considering the efficiency of the thermoelectric devices, it may be able power a lot of health monitoring sensors. This research may open up new prospects for both thermocells and wearable functional electronics.”