Implementation of wearable thermal energy harvesting system with conductive thread

Energy harvesting is a promising solution for powering the portable electronic devices. Energy of the environment or energy from the human body can be extracted using various techniques. In addition, the growth of personal health care systems demand the advancement of wearable electronics. Accordingly, implementation of wearable devices powered by energy harvesting is of interest. In this paper, a practical, economical, and flexible approach based on theconductive printing technology on the fabric for such implementation is proposed. A conducting thread as a technique for transmitting power to a wearable energy harvesting device is introduced. In this manner, the thermal energy of the human body is converted into electrical energy by a thermoelectric generator; then, through a fabric on which conductive printing or thread is used, will be transferred to the electronics of a wearable device. Asthe incoming voltage from the heat of body is low in amplitude, a boost converter is used to increase the voltage level. Conductive printing technology on fabric substrate has a variety of applications, and with a particular focus on energy extraction paper, the implemented system based on thread as a conductive path can provide output voltage of ۵ V with the efficiency of ۲۳%.

کلیدواژه ها:

Conductive thread ، energy harvesting ، inkjet printer ، thermoelectric ، wearable device.