this ring turns your body heat into a battery and regenerates itself

researchers at CU boulder have created a new wearable device that can transform body heat into a biological battery. featuring a thermoelectric system that leverages the differences in temperatures to produce electricity, the device not only harvests energy from the human body but is also able to repair itself when damaged.

‘in the future, we want to be able to power your wearable electronics without having to include a battery,’ said jianliang xiao, senior author of the new paper and an associate professor in the paul m. rady department of mechanical engineering at CU boulder.

the thermoelectric wearable device, in this case a ring, is able to generate about 1 volt of energy for every square centimeter of skin space. this means that it produces less energy than existing batteries but still enough to power electronics like watches or fitness trackers. the fact that it can heal itself and that it can be fully-recyclable makes it a cleaner alternative to traditional electronics.

‘whenever you use a battery, you’re depleting that battery and will, eventually, need to replace it,’ xiao said. ‘the nice thing about our thermoelectric device is that you can wear it, and it provides you with constant power.’

the wearable is made of a stretchy material called polyimine with a series of thin thermoelectric chips attached to it which are also connected to liquid metal wires. ‘our design makes the whole system stretchable without introducing much strain to the thermoelectric material, which can be really brittle,’ xiao continues. ‘the thermoelectric generators are in close contact with the human body, and they can use the heat that would normally be dissipated into the environment.’