A self-sustainable wearable multi-modular E-textile bioenergy microgrid system

TLDR

Despite rapid advances in energy harvesting and storage, integrating them into efficient, autonomous, and sustainable wearable systems remains largely unexplored. The authors introduce e‑textile microgrids and demonstrate a multi‑module bioenergy microgrid system. The microgrid harvests biochemical and biomechanical energy from sweat‑based biofuel cells and triboelectric generators, stores it in supercapacitors, and relies solely on human activity for high‑power output. Energy budgeting shows the system can continuously power LCDs or pulse‑mode sweat sensor displays, halving boot time and tripling runtime during a 10‑min exercise, and the design principles suggest promising prospects for efficient, sustainable, autonomous wearables.

Abstract

Abstract Despite the fast development of various energy harvesting and storage devices, their judicious integration into efficient, autonomous, and sustainable wearable systems has not been widely explored. Here, we introduce the concept and design principles of e-textile microgrids by demonstrating a multi-module bioenergy microgrid system. Unlike earlier hybrid wearable systems, the presented e-textile microgrid relies solely on human activity to work synergistically, harvesting biochemical and biomechanical energy using sweat-based biofuel cells and triboelectric generators, and regulating the harvested energy via supercapacitors for high-power output. Through energy budgeting, the e-textile system can efficiently power liquid crystal displays continuously or a sweat sensor-electrochromic display system in pulsed sessions, with half the booting time and triple the runtime in a 10-min exercise session. Implementing “compatible form factors, commensurate performance, and complementary functionality” design principles, the flexible, textile-based bioenergy microgrid offers attractive prospects for the design and operation of efficient, sustainable, and autonomous wearable systems.