New wearable tech generates power whilst enhancing comfort
Summary
Amphiphiles can be found in everyday products like lotions, soaps, and detergents where they help materials to slide smoothly over the skin and prevent chafing. They then conducted a series of experiments to see if these amphiphiles could be incorporated into materials used in haptic energy harvesters – devices that generate power from touch and movement. This means that when the amphiphile-coated material rubs against human skin, it creates a charge that can be captured and used to power small electronic devices. This discovery opens doors for a range of new technologies, including self-powered smart textiles, wearable medical sensors, and haptic feedback systems for virtual and augmented reality. The findings were published in Science Advances in a paper titled ‘Compressing Slippery Surface-Assembled Amphiphiles for Tunable Haptic Energy Harvesters’.