In a recent publication, researchers at the University of Colorado announce that they have developed a technology that converts human body heat into electricity. Being able to be integrated into connected accessories and clothing, these thermoelectric micro-generators could soon make it possible to remove the batteries from our watches and other connected bracelets .
Such a technology could also allow the development of new products, especially in the professional sector.
Technology designed for everyday life
This is not the first time that experiments show that it is possible to transform the heat or the movement of the human body into electricity. But so far, the systems developed have proved to be expensive, fragile and impractical to use. The approach adopted by Jianliang Xiao's team at the University of Colorado Boulder, however, aims to offer a product that is easily applicable to current and future connected objects.
According to the researchers, their new "biological charger" is expandable, designed in self-regenerating materials and fully recyclable. Where previous approaches led to the creation of generators as bulky as traditional batteries, the flexibility of the new product will allow it to fit into the surface of a bracelet, ring or any other object in contact with the skin, without hindering the movements of the wearer.
Each square centimeter of contact would generate a voltage of one volt. Probably too little to charge your laptop directly in a backpack, unless you want to wear a full charging suit! But this would be sufficient a priori for the exploitation of energy-efficient objects, such as a connected watch or an activity tracking bracelet.
A first step towards an operational system?
For now, the results of Xiao's team are more basic research than practical application. Demonstrators made it possible to validate the concept of use, its extensibility, its modularity and its recyclable dimension. In fact, the cells presented are still quite large and probably very fragile.
To make this technology operational, it will be necessary to miniaturize it. From there, one could imagine its integration aboard various accessories and clothing, such as gloves, headbands, bracelets, etc. Even before the general public, this kind of technology could be of particular interest to certain professional sectors. The military, rescuers, certain workers and technicians are taking on more and more electronic equipment in their missions. A technology enabling the constraints of weight and battery autonomy to be overcome could then be of great interest.