Stretching and Folding for Electricity Generation... Expectations for 'Jeongjeon-gi Wearable'

Self-Generating Electricity in Any Form
Development of New Fundamental Technology for Static Electricity Materials

- The research team's newly developed triboelectric material generated an output voltage of 320 V and an output current of 45 μA during physical deformations such as stretching and bending. It was also able to power more than 20 LEDs in each form of deformation without any external battery connection.

[Asia Economy Reporter Junho Hwang] Domestic researchers have developed a material that generates electricity from human movement. This technology maximizes the static electricity generated by human motion, and it is expected that static electricity could be used as a power source for wearable devices in the future.

Electricity Generated by Stretching or Bending

Schematic Diagram of Structure and Actual Cross-Section Photo

The research team led by Dr. Suyeon Lee and Dr. Youngmin Choi at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology announced on the 14th that they have developed a new static electricity material that can generate electricity by itself regardless of the form of deformation, such as stretching or bending. The related research results were published last month as a cover paper in ACS Energy Letters, an academic journal in the energy field.

Unlike existing materials, the team developed a new electrode material that maintains conductivity while only its structure changes when stretched or bent. They coated this material with polyurethane foam, which has strong triboelectric properties, fusing the two layers into a single substance. In particular, the urethane foam was designed to form a bumpy protrusion, maximizing the frictional surface area during stretching or bending to facilitate static electricity generation.

The research team confirmed that this material produces about five times more electricity than existing materials when stretched or bent. An output voltage of 60 V was generated during stretching deformation, and 320 V during combined stretching and bending deformation. Additionally, when comparing the energy storage rates generated by each deformation type, more electrical energy was produced during combined stretching and bending. They also calculated the values that maximize electricity production.

Potential Use as Power Source for Wearables and Internet of Things

Operation Principle Diagram

The research team expects that the developed material can be used as a core material not only for wearable devices such as smartwatches and healthcare bands but also for self-powered sensors in the Internet of Things (IoT).

Dr. Suyeon Lee said, "The high-output energy harvesting material developed this time is newly designed to allow various forms of deformation in a polymer material with strong triboelectric properties, overcoming the limitations of existing materials and enabling its use in the high-output energy harvesting field, which is very meaningful." She added, "We have secured or are in the process of securing patent rights for this technology in Korea, the United States, Europe, and China."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.