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Scientists at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, China, in collaboration with MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, have developed a flexible, portable proof-of-concept device that works with an unlikely substance. Gelatin, plus the heat it emanates from a human, has been shown to be a feasible energy source for such portable devices and IoT devices.
In a titled job “Great thermal power of ionic gelatin near room temperature” Published yesterday by Science, Associate Professor Weishu Liu (MSE, SUSTech) and Professor Gang Chen from MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering describe the potential of self-powered electronic thermoelectric devices that use gelatin. Yes, this is the gelatin that you perhaps know best for its culinary uses, turned into an ionic gel.
As the SUSTech blog explains, most thermoelectric materials “They are inorganic semiconductors that require noble metals or processing technology.” Impressively, new research exploring thermoelectric materials close to room temperature shows that using gelatin it was possible to generate thermoelectric power. “almost two orders of magnitude higher than typical electronic thermoelectric”. For a bit of history, the Seebeck effect is worth looking into, a thermoelectric phenomenon first discovered by German physicist Thomas Johann Seebeck in 1821.
In the proof-of-concept device, the researchers assembled an energy cell using twenty-five of these gelatin battery elements (5 × 5 × 1.8 mm) in a flexible portable device. The cell generated 2.2V, a maximum output power of 5μW, from the heat of the human host. This is claimed to be sufficient to control the sensors on most IoT devices.
