PFI-TT: Flexible Electronic Devices for Harvesting Body Heat toward Self-Powered Wearable Health Monitoring

PFI-TT：用于收集体热以实现自供电可穿戴健康监测的柔性电子设备

• 批准号: 2044677
• 负责人: Mehmet Ozturk
• 金额: $ 25万
• 依托单位: North Carolina State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-01-01 至 2023-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2044677&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: PFI; TT; Flexible; Electronic; Devices

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project lies in enabling wearable devices that can be used for remote, vigilant, and long-term health monitoring. The COVID-19 pandemic has recently highlighted the acute need for such devices to manage/protect individual and public health, particularly for those with chronic underlying conditions. Continuous monitoring of multiple biomarkers is one of the key enablers of precision and personalized medicine. However, current products on the market are not capable of providing the medical and scientific community the necessary access to high-resolution and longitudinal data. These systems typically lack multiple sensing modalities while also suffering from short battery life. To address the need, wearable platforms must operate with no interruptions to collect high granularity data over time and establish individual health baselines. This can be accomplished by harvesting the excess energy from the human body and/or the environment to power the sensors and the electronics. Such battery-free devices have the potential to revolutionize the medical industry by empowering individuals to gain control of their own health while significantly reducing medical costs by decreasing the need for frequent doctor visits.The project introduces a flexible electronic energy harvesting device that can be worn on the body to harvest excess body heat and convert it to electrical energy. The device relies on a unique liquid-metal material which conducts electricity like a metal while offering water-like viscosity to realize electrical circuitry with ultimate flexibility and stretchability. The technology is compatible with roll-to-roll manufacturing, a highly desirable attribute in flexible electronics to reduce costs. The primary goal of the project is to increase the technology readiness of the harvester to increase its commercialization potential. The research includes systematic studies geared toward assessing and improving the long-term reliability of the harvester while enhancing its manufacturability by introducing materials and processes that offer lower-cost and manufacturing ease without compromising device performance. Research tasks include new flexible materials for enhanced performance, comfort, and robustness. The new materials and devices will be tested on the human body during different physical activity levels and under different ambient conditions. The harvesters will be subjected to repetitive cycles of external stresses such as heat, moisture and mechanical deformation. The results will be used to identify potential failure mechanisms, materials and process solutions will address such mechanisms.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该创新合作伙伴关系 - 技术转化 (PFI-TT) 项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于实现可用于远程、警惕和长期健康监测的可穿戴设备。最近的 COVID-19 大流行凸显了对此类设备来管理/保护个人和公共健康的迫切需求，特别是对于那些患有慢性基础疾病的人。多种生物标志物的连续监测是精准和个性化医疗的关键推动因素之一。然而，市场上现有的产品无法为医学和科学界提供获取高分辨率和纵向数据的必要途径。这些系统通常缺乏多种传感模式，同时电池寿命也较短。为了满足这一需求，可穿戴平台必须不间断地运行，以随着时间的推移收集高粒度数据并建立个人健康基线。这可以通过从人体和/或环境中收集多余的能量来为传感器和电子设备供电来实现。这种无电池设备有可能彻底改变医疗行业，使个人能够控制自己的健康，同时通过减少频繁就诊的需要来显着降低医疗成本。该项目推出了一种可穿戴的灵活电子能量收集设备作用于身体，收集多余的身体热量并将其转化为电能。该器件依赖于一种独特的液态金属材料，该材料像金属一样导电，同时提供类似水的粘度，以实现具有终极灵活性和可拉伸性的电路。该技术与卷对卷制造兼容，这是柔性电子产品中非常理想的属性，可以降低成本。该项目的主要目标是提高收割机的技术准备度，以提高其商业化潜力。该研究包括旨在评估和提高收割机的长期可靠性的系统研究，同时通过引入成本更低且易于制造且不影响设备性能的材料和工艺来增强其可制造性。研究任务包括用于增强性能、舒适性和坚固性的新型柔性材料。新材料和设备将在不同体力活动水平和不同环境条件下对人体进行测试。 收割机将承受反复循环的外部应力，例如热量、水分和机械变形。结果将用于识别潜在的失效机制，材料和工艺解决方案将解决这些机制。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Flexible thermoelectric generator with liquid metal interconnects and low thermal conductivity silicone filler

• DOI: 10.1038/s41528-021-00101-3
• 发表时间: 2021-03-08
• 期刊: NPJ FLEXIBLE ELECTRONICS
• 影响因子: 14.6
• 作者: Padmanabhan Ramesh, Viswanath;Sargolzaeiaval, Yasaman;Ozturk, Mehmet C.
• 通讯作者: Ozturk, Mehmet C.