Makakapagbigay Ba tayo ng Kapangyarihan sa Ating Mga Elektronikong Device Gamit ang Mga Wearable Energy Harvester?

Pagpapalambot ng Mga Elektronikong Device

With smartphones, we have become used to carrying electronics with us all the time. This is, however, still done with a bulky block of metal and plastic, which, if anything, is getting bigger and heavier every year.

The next step would be to incorporate electronic devices in our attire more seamlessly. This has already started with wearable electronics like smartwatches and iba pang mga wearable na nakatuon sa kalusugan.

One step further would be to integrate electronics into our clothing directly. But for that, it would need to be very flexible and lightweight. There has been solid progress made in that direction:

• Ang mga nababaluktot na screen ay karaniwang isinama na sa mga high-end na smartphone ng Samsung at Huawei.
• Ang mga nababaluktot at nababanat na baterya na gawa sa polymer ay kasalukuyang binubuo.
• Ang mga microprocessor ay maaari ring mabali.

So, if screens, batteries, and even processors are now flexible and bendable, what is still blocking us from having wearables integrated into our clothing? Powering them all is still a serious roadblock.

But this might change, thanks to a discovery by Korean researchers at the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST), Hannam University, Yonsei University, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH) and Jeonbuk National University.

They developed a wearable energy harvester that is 280x more efficient than conventional devices, using a new type of piezoelectric energy harvester.

It was published in ACS Nano, under the title “Disenyo ng Curvature-specific Coupling Electrode para sa isang Stretchable Three-Dimensional Inorganic Piezoelectric Nanogenerator¹”.

Triboelectric at Piezoelectric na Mga Device

Energy harvesters are systems producing energy from movements. There are mostly two types, based on whether they work on the triboelectric effect or piezoelectric effect.

Ang mga triboelectric generator ay karaniwang tinatawag na electrostatic, o kung ano ang nangyayari kapag dalawang bagay ay nagdikit o nagdulas laban sa isa’t isa. This can generate some electricity but is often too weak to power electronics.

Piezoelectric is the effect of generating electricity in response to mechanical stress like bending, squeezing, etc. Until now, most piezoelectric energy harvesters have been made using organic or composite-based piezoelectric materials, which have low energy efficiency.

Pr Jang’s team was using another type of material: lead zirconate titanate (PZT).

Pinagmulan: DGIST

PZT Piezoelectric Generator

PZT has long been known to have excellent piezoelectric performance, but it is also hard and brittle. Therefore, using it in stretchable devices and counting on movement to generate power was unlikely to create a durable generator for wearables.

So, the researchers looked at how to design a PZT-based 3D structure that would be insensitive to deformation and guarantee stretchability while keeping the piezoelectric capability.

The first step was to create a curved electrode with a convex shape that produces power when stretched.

Pinagmulan: ACS Nano

They then assemble strings of these electrodes into each other, similar to the mesh of a fabric or a wicker basket.

Pinagmulan: ACS Nano

Pagtatanggal ng mga Problema

Because the electrodes are interlaced, they could easily cancel each other out. To avoid this, the electrodes were divided into convex and concave regions according to the direction of the induced output voltage.

The current can be created by any motion of the body, as tested by the researchers on the knee, hand, or even fingers.

Pinagmulan: ACS Nano

This created a very efficient piezoelectric generator, displaying both extreme stretchability and the highest current density for any device of this type.

Pinagmulan: ACS Nano

“Ang pag-develop ng napakaepektibong stretchable piezoelectric energy harvester technology ay isang malaking tagumpay ng pananaliksik na ito. Inaasahan naming magiging kapaki-pakinabang ang teknolohiyang ito pagkatapos ng komersyalisasyon at maghahatid sa praktikal na paggamit ng mga wearable energy harvesters.”

Pr. Kyung-In Jang – Kagawaran ng Robotics at Mechatronics Engineering, DGIST

Mga Aplikasyon

Mga Wearable

The most direct application would be to power electronics integrated into clothing when we move, such as while walking.

This could be useful for wearable devices, especially health monitoring devices that could then not be reliant on regular battery charging.

Mga Implanong Medikal

One specific type of implant could greatly benefit from this sort of generator: heart implants.

The heart is moving and contracting constantly, which can provide a stable energy source for such medical implants.

The researchers tested the concept by encapsulating the generator in encapsulated in a polyimide film. This was required to effectively isolate the PZT from biofluids and tissues, as PZT can be toxic.

Pinagmulan: ACS Nano

Militar

Another application could be in the military, with infantry increasingly dependent on power-hungry sensors, communications, electronic warfare, etc.

And it is hardly practical for combat units to be expected to navigate a tangle of cables and batteries. At the same time, they already have to handle their weapon, ammunition, telecom solution, etc. A piezoelectric generator directly connected to flexible electronics in the soldiers’ uniform could be a good alternative.

Pamumuhunan sa Wearables

Wearable technology is expected to grow by 14.6% CAGR hanggang 2030, mula $61.2B noong 2022.

Pinagmulan: Grand View Research

Maaari kang mamuhunan sa mga kumpanyang may kaugnayan sa wearable sa pamamagitan ng maraming broker, at dito, sa securities.io, matatagpuan mo ang aming mga rekomendasyon para sa pinakamahusay na mga broker sa USA, Canada, Australia, UK, at pati na rin sa maraming ibang bansa.

If you are not interested in picking specific companies, you can also look into ETFs like the iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF (IHI) or the SPDR S&P Health Care Equipment ETF (XHE), which will provide a more diversified exposure to capitalize on the growing wearable and medical device industry.

You can also consult our article “Top 6 Medical Devices Stocks“.

Kumpanya ng Wearables

Paggawa ng Wearables

One way to build flexible electronics is by using polymers. Another way to do this is to use a very flexible and non-toxic metal, gallium, which tinalakay namin sa isang dedikadong ulat sa pamumuhunan.

Solar energy, in addition to the piezoelectric effect, could also charge flexible wearables. This could be achieved either by using perovskite solar cells or ultra-thin organic photovoltaic technology.

Ang Philips ay isang kilalang tatak ng maliit na consumer electronics (shavers, electric toothbrushes), na aktibo rin sa healthcare. Ito ay naging #1 sa pag-file ng MedTech patent sa Europa noong 2022.

Aktibo ito sa mga konektadong produktong medikal, mula sa wearables hanggang imaging, respirators, o medical robots. Ang kumpanya ay aktibo rin sa semiconductors (kasama ang maglev technology) at high-tech/robotics/automation.

Pinagmulan: Philips

Ang mga wearables ng Philips ay sumasaklaw sa cardiac, respiratory, at activity metrics. Ang mga sensor nito ay maaaring i-integrate sa smartwatches, health monitors, medical patches, at activity trackers.

Tungkol sa wearables, pinapaboran ng Philips ang partnership solution, kung saan nagde-develop ito para sa mga third parties ng “kanilang” konektadong IoT (Internet of Things) na medikal na device na ganap na compatible sa iba pang solusyon ng Philips. Sa kontekstong ito, inaalok nito sa mga kliyente ang prototyping, regulatory advising, end-to-end product development, at industrial-scale production.

Ginagawa nitong isang technology-focused na kumpanya ang Philips at isang posibleng kandidato para sa mabilis na pag-integrate ng mga inobasyon tulad ng flexible piezoelectric generators sa umiiral na mga medikal na device.

Noong 2023, ang mga device ng Philips ay direktang nakaapekto sa 1.82 bilyong tao.

Nais ng kumpanya na lumikha ng isang ganap na integrated na digital healthcare environment, kung saan ang mga sensor ay tumutugma sa mga device, at pagkatapos ay gumamit ng maraming connectivity solution upang i-integrate sa Philips HealthSuite Cloud solution at magbigay ng malalim na data analytics.

Pinagmulan: Philips

Bilang isang supplier sa industriya ng MedTech, ang Philips ay hindi kasing halata sa sektor kumpara sa iba pang mas kilalang kumpanya. Gayunpaman, ito ay isang eksperto sa paggawa ng high-performance na electronic devices at sensors, madalas na itinutulak ang mga hangganan ng kung ano ang posible sa kanilang niche sa healthcare at wearables.

Sa patuloy na pag-integrate ng wearables sa healthcare at medikal na mga protocol, malamang na lalago ang Healthcare segment ng Philips bilang bahagi ng conglomerate.

Sanggunian ng Pag-aaral:

^{1. Yea, J., Ha, J., Lim, K. S., Lee, H., Oh, S., Jekal, J., Yu, T. S., Jung, H. H., Park, J.-U., Lee, T., Jeong, J.-W., Kim, H. J., Keum, H., Lee, Y. K., & Jang, K.-I. (2024). Disenyo ng Electrode na May Curvature-specific Coupling para sa isang Stretchable Three-Dimensional Inorganic Piezoelectric Nanogenerator. ACS Nano, 18(50), 34096–34106. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.4c09933}