Solid-State Device Harvests Body Heat to Power Battery-Free Wearables and Iot Sensors

New Technology Enables Battery-Free Wearable Devices and Iot Sensors Powered Soly By Body Heat

Operational Principle and Thermopower of the Solid-STATE TD-Cassized Tg Cell. Credit: Energy & Environmental Science (2025). Doi: 10.1039/d5eee01216c

A research team affiliated with unist has unveiled a technological advancement that allows body heat to generate electricity sufficient to power electronic devices. This Innovation Paves The Way For the Commercialization of Battery-Free Wearable Gadgets and Internet of Things (IOT) sensors that operate solely on heat generated by the human body.

LED by Professor Sung-Yon Jang from the school of energy and chemical engineering at unist, the research team developed the world’s first high-endepe n-style Capable of powering actual electronic devices. The paper is published in the journey Energy & Environmental Science,

Thermogalvanic Cells are compact generators that convert temperature differences – Such as the Human Body Temperature (~ 36 ° C) Versus Surrunding AIR (20–25 ° C) —Icto Electrical Electrical Electrical Electrical Electric Electrical Electric Electric Electrical Enexia. However, due to the minimal temperature gradient, previous systems struggled to produge enough power to operate real-World Electronics.

The newly developed solid-state device overomes this challenge by deliverying subfficient voltage and current to power practical devices. While Solid-State Designs Typically Offer Advantages The Research Team Engineered An Electrolyte that facilitates Efficients ION Transport, and Further, Thermally Driven ION DRIVEN ION DIFFUSION ENHANCES OOVARLL OOVARLL OTUTUTEGE VOLTAGE.

By Connecting 100 of these cells in series – Simillar to building with Lego Blocks –approximately 1.5V can be generated from body Heat, Comparable to Standard Aa Batteries. Connecting 16 Such Series-Connected Modules Enables The activation of devices like LED lights, Electronic Clocks, and Temperature/Humidity Sensors.

Notable, the cell’s seebeck coefficient (voltage change per temperature different) The device also demonstrated excellent durability, mainTaining consistent performance after 50 Charge-Discharge Cycles.

The core of this Solid-State Cell Comprises a Conductive Polymer, Pedot: PSS, and a Redox Couple of Fe (Clo₄) ₂/3. Electrostatic interactions between the negatively charged Sulfonate Groups (-SO) of the Polymer and the Fe²/Fe³⁺ ie ions Estable a Stable Structure, While Perchlore IONS (CLOU₄⁻) ARE Free to move, Facilitating Ion Diffusion and Thermodifffusion Effects that Boost Power Output.

Professor Jang Stated, “This research marks a new milestone in low-temprature waste heat energy harvesting and flexible energy conversion devices. It has the potential to serve as a aesstem for Wearable Electronics and Autonomous Iot Devices Driven Solely by Body Heat. “

More information:
Jeong-Ye Baek et al, Solid-STATE N-Type Thermodifffusion-Assisted Thermogalvanic Cells With Unprecedented Thermal Energy Conversion, Energy & Environmental Science (2025). Doi: 10.1039/d5eee01216c

Provided by Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology


Citation: Solid-State Device Harvests Body Heat to Power Battery-Free Wearables and Iot Sensors (2025, September 8) Retrieved 8 September 2025 from https://techxplore.com/news/2025-09-Solid- State- Device- HARVISTS- BODY.HTML

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