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Wearable tech: How sweat could power your phone
Image source, UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering
Scientists have invented a device that can turn your sweat into power.
Researchers at the University of California San Diego developed the technology, which turns the chemicals in your sweat into energy, by using a thin strip, that looks a bit like a plaster.
This strip could then be wrapped around a person's fingertip, to soak up the sweat it makes.
"Unlike other sweat-powered wearables, this one requires no exercise, no physical input from the wearer in order to be useful. This work is a step forward to making wearables more practical, convenient and accessible for the everyday person." said professor Joseph Wang, who co-wrote the research.
Although the technology might not be able to power your phone just yet, it can still produce a good amount of power, take a look below to find out more about how it works...
How does it work?
Image source, Lu Yin and Jong-Min Moon
The device was built to be super absorbent, like a sponge, meaning it can soak up sweat quickly.
This sweat is then turned into energy by a special padding made of carbon foam electrodes.
These electrodes have enzymes in them, which when they react with the molecules in your sweat, cause a chemical reaction that makes energy.
The electrical energy is then stored in a small device called a capacitator, which can then be used to charge gadgets.
Image source, Getty Images
The researchers tested the device out on a volunteer, who managed to generate 400 millijoules of energy - enough to power an electronic wristwatch for a whole day - just by wearing the device on their fingertip whilst they slept for 10 hours.
The researchers have said that this could be 10 times higher if the volunteer wears a device on each finger.
However, the researchers have said that the technology is not yet powerful enough to charge power-hungry gadgets like smartphones, but this is something they're looking into.
"Our goal is to make this a practical device," said Lu Yin, the co-author of the report, "We want to show that this is not just another cool thing that can generate a small amount of energy and then that's it. We can actually use the energy to power useful electronics such as sensors and displays."