SAN DIEGO – A new wearable device generates energy from the sweat droplets on your fingertips, and it could one day replace batteries in items like Fitbits.
A team of researchers from UC San Diego has developed a plaster-like strip to be worn on the finger, which can produce electricity whenever it is pressed and also convert it from excreted sweat.
Even when the wearer is asleep, they can produce small amounts of electricity — a more reliable technology than other renewable energy sources like solar or wind, which are currently weather-dependent.
The team is headed up by Joseph Wang, who first made a breakthrough in wearable energy devices eight years ago with a rechargeable battery powered by a temporary tattoo.
Since then, Wang has helped to develop stretchable biofuel cells, which can withstand stretching, indentation, and twisting while worn on the skin.
Sweat-based energy capture has also been paired with textiles. The team at UC San Diego created a T-shirt last year with biofuel cells in the chest, which convert sweat into electricity as the wearer walks or runs.
But the finger strip is a significant jump forward, as it harnesses the sweatiest part of the body — the fingertips have the highest concentration of sweat glands — with minimal effort.
Read more at the Cool Down
