Researchers have developed new technology that uses body heat to charge gadgets without any external power supply or battery replacement. Researchers have developed a new concept of electrical energy storage Thermally Chargeable Solid-state Supercapacitor.
“This is the first time that it has been discovered that a solid-state polymer electrolyte can produce large thermally induced voltage,” said Choongho Yu, a professor at the Texas A&M University. “The voltage can then be used to initiate an electrochemical reaction in electrodes for charging,” Yu added.
Yu has employed a physical phenomenon known as the Soret effect-using a solid-state polymer electrolyte, in which a temperature gradient along the supercapacitor moves the ions from the hot side to the cold side generating a high thermally induced voltage.
The working principle of Supercapacitor is like thermocouple that converts thermal energy into electrical energy and then stores it in the device. Human body heat or any heat dissipating objects that create temperature differences from their surroundings can be used to charge the capacitor.
It is also flexible to easily install as a power supply for wearable electronics and can be integrated into wireless data transmission systems to operate internet of things (IoT) sensors.