Wearable power sources for wearable electronics are limited by the size of garments.
With that in mind, researchers at Case Western Reserve University have developed flexible wire-shaped microsupercapacitors that can be woven into a jacket, shirt or dress.
By their design or by connecting the capacitors in series or parallel, the devices can be tailored to match the charge storage and delivery needs of electronics donned.
While there’s been progress in development of those electronics–body cameras, smart glasses, sensors that monitor health, activity trackers and more–one challenge remaining is providing less obtrusive and cumbersome power sources.
“The area of clothing is fixed, so to generate the power density needed in a small area, we grew radially-aligned titanium oxide nanotubes on a titanium wire used as the main electrode,” said Liming Dai, the Kent Hale Smith Professor of Macromolecular Science and Engineering. “By increasing the surface area of the electrode, you increase the capacitance.”
Dai and Tao Chen, a postdoctoral fellow in molecular science and engineering at Case Western Reserve, published their research on the microsupercapacitor in the journal Energy Storage Materials this week. The study builds on earlier carbon-based supercapacitors.
A capacitor is cousin to the battery, but offers the advantage of charging and releasing energy much faster.
How it works
In this new supercapacitor, the modified titanium wire is coated with a solid electrolyte made of polyvinyl alcohol and phosphoric acid. The wire is then wrapped with either yarn or a sheet made of aligned carbon nanotubes, which serves as the second electrode. The titanium oxide nanotubes, which are semiconducting, separate the two active portions of the electrodes, preventing a short circuit.
In testing, capacitance–the capability to store charge–increased from 0.57 to 0.9 to 1.04 milliFarads per micrometer as the strands of carbon nanotube yarn were increased from 1 to 2 to 3.
When wrapped with a sheet of carbon nanotubes, which increases the effective area of electrode, the microsupercapactitor stored 1.84 milliFarads per micrometer. Energy density was 0.16 x 10-3 milliwatt-hours per cubic centimeter and power density .01 milliwatt per cubic centimeter.
Whether wrapped with yarn or a sheet, the microsupercapacitor retained at least 80 percent of its capacitance after 1,000 charge-discharge cycles. To match various specific power needs of wearable devices, the wire-shaped capacitors can be connected in series or parallel to raise voltage or current, the researchers say.
When bent up to 180 degrees hundreds of times, the capacitors showed no loss of performance. Those wrapped in sheets showed more mechanical strength.
“They’re very flexible, so they can be integrated into fabric or textile materials,” Dai said. “They can be a wearable, flexible power source for wearable electronics and also for self-powered biosensors or other biomedical devices, particularly for applications inside the body.”
Read more:Â CWRU researchers tailor power source for wearable electronics
The Latest on: Wearable electronics
[google_news title=”” keyword=”wearable electronics” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Wearable electronics
- Rubber-like stretchable energy storage device fabricated with laser precisionon April 24, 2024 at 1:21 pm
Researchers have achieved a significant breakthrough in developing a small-scale energy storage device capable of stretching, twisting, folding, and wrinkling. Their study is published in the journal ...
- New research demonstrates potential of thin-film electronics for flexible chip designon April 24, 2024 at 8:00 am
The mass production of conventional silicon chips relies on a successful business model with large "semiconductor fabrication plants" or "foundries." New research by KU Leuven and imec shows that this ...
- Unlocking a US$ 3.7 Billion Opportunity: The Rise of Stretchable Conductive Material in Wearables Electronicson April 24, 2024 at 1:57 am
The stretchable conductive material market is expected to experience substantial growth during the forecast period. The market size is projected to reach US$ 3.7 billion by 2033, with a significant ...
- Wearable Material Market to Reach $7.4 billion, Globally, by 2032 at 12.2% CAGR: Allied Market Researchon April 23, 2024 at 1:16 am
Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Wearable Material Market by Type (Silicon, Polyurethanes, Fluro elastomers) and Application (Consumer Electronics, Medical, Others): Global ...
- Wearable AI Market Breaking the Mold Uncharted Territory Techniques Reshaping Observational Researchon April 21, 2024 at 5:01 pm
Request To Download Free Sample of This Strategic Report @- Wearable AI consists of intelligent devices such as smart watches, smart earwears, smart eyewear, smart gloves and others. The wearable AI ...
- The 5 Best Neck Fans in 2024, Tested by Our Gear Editorson April 21, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Like anything wearable, the lighter the unit ... Neck fans aren't complicated electronics. Thankfully, that means most decent models will run less than $40. Only the best, most premium options ...
- Flexible Electronics Market Charting a Course Future-Proofing Your Business for Market Changeson April 21, 2024 at 3:26 pm
Flexible Electronics Market was valued at $23.64 billion in 2019, and is projected to reach $42.48 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 7.4% from 2020 to 2027. Flexible electronics is a potential ...
- Revolutionizing Fitness: Wearable Fitness Tracker Market Set to Soar, Projected at US$30.9 Billion in 2024on April 18, 2024 at 6:02 am
The global wearable fitness tracker market is anticipated to reach a valuation of US$ 30,922.1 million in 2024, driven by incorporation of AI and ML. The trend is expected to create new opportunities ...
- Stretchable quantum dot displayon April 14, 2024 at 5:00 pm
allowing new forms of wearable electronics and beyond. This research has been conducted in collaboration with colleagues from Seoul National University, Ulsan National Institute of Science and ...
via Bing News