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1. Recent progress in electrospun nanomaterials for wearables

   https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0088136  

   Das, Riddha; Zeng, Wenxin; Asci, Cihan; Del-Rio-Ruiz, Ruben; Sonkusale, Sameer (June 2022, APL Bioengineering)

   Wearables have garnered significant attention in recent years not only as consumer electronics for entertainment, communications, and commerce but also for real-time continuous health monitoring. This has been spurred by advances in flexible sensors, transistors, energy storage, and harvesting devices to replace the traditional, bulky, and rigid electronic devices. However, engineering smart wearables that can seamlessly integrate with the human body is a daunting task. Some of the key material attributes that are challenging to meet are skin conformability, breathability, and biocompatibility while providing tunability of its mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. Electrospinning has emerged as a versatile platform that can potentially address these challenges by fabricating nanofibers with tunable properties from a polymer base. In this article, we review advances in wearable electronic devices and systems that are developed using electrospinning. We cover various applications in multiple fields including healthcare, biomedicine, and energy. We review the ability to tune the electrical, physiochemical, and mechanical properties of the nanofibers underlying these applications and illustrate strategies that enable integration of these nanofibers with human skin. 

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2. The Future of Clean Computing May Be Dirty

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3568113.3568117  

   Josephson, Colleen; Shuai, Weitao; Marcano, Gabriel; Pannuto, Pat; Hester, Josiah; Wells, George (October 2022, GetMobile: Mobile Computing and Communications)

   The emergence of the Internet of Things and pervasive sensor networks have generated a surge of research in energy scavenging techniques. We know well that harvesting RF, solar, or kinetic energy enables the creation of battery-free devices that can be used where frequent battery changes or dedicated power lines are impractical. One unusual yet ubiquitous source of power is soil (earth itself) - or more accurately, bacterial communities in soil. Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are electrochemical cells that harness the activities of microbes that naturally occur in soil, wetlands, and wastewater. MFCs have been a topic of research in environmental engineering and microbiology for decades, but are a relatively new topic in electronics design and research. Most low-power electronics have traditionally opted for batteries, RF energy, or solar cells. This is changing, however, as the limitations and costs of these energy sources hamper our ability to deploy useful systems that last for decades in challenging environments. If large-scale, long-term applications like underground infrastructure monitoring, smart farming, and sensing for conservation are to be possible, we must rethink the energy source. 

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3. Energy storage: The future enabled by nanomaterials

   https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aan8285  

   Pomerantseva, Ekaterina; Bonaccorso, Francesco; Feng, Xinliang; Cui, Yi; Gogotsi, Yury (November 2019, Science)

   Lithium-ion batteries, which power portable electronics, electric vehicles, and stationary storage, have been recognized with the 2019 Nobel Prize in chemistry. The development of nanomaterials and their related processing into electrodes and devices can improve the performance and/or development of the existing energy storage systems. We provide a perspective on recent progress in the application of nanomaterials in energy storage devices, such as supercapacitors and batteries. The versatility of nanomaterials can lead to power sources for portable, flexible, foldable, and distributable electronics; electric transportation; and grid-scale storage, as well as integration in living environments and biomedical systems. To overcome limitations of nanomaterials related to high reactivity and chemical instability caused by their high surface area, nanoparticles with different functionalities should be combined in smart architectures on nano- and microscales. The integration of nanomaterials into functional architectures and devices requires the development of advanced manufacturing approaches. We discuss successful strategies and outline a roadmap for the exploitation of nanomaterials for enabling future energy storage applications, such as powering distributed sensor networks and flexible and wearable electronics. 

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4. Amphibious Generator via Mechanical Coupling for Versatile Energy Harvesting

   https://doi.org/10.1002/aesr.202500087  

   Zhang, Chi; Wang, Yuxiao; Urena, Johan; Augustin‐Lawson, Richards; Eno, Catherine; Sun, Mengdie; Flammang, Brooke; Dong, Lin (March 2025, Advanced Energy and Sustainability Research)

   Environmental energy harvesting provides a sustainable solution to energy shortages using clean, renewable sources. Despite advances in technologies like triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) and electromagnetic generators (EMGs), many devices are limited to a single‐energy source and specific conditions, limiting their practical applications. This study presents an innovative amphibious hybrid TENG–EMG (HTEG) that overcomes these limitations by coupling TENG and EMG units with a gear set, amplifying power output through rotational motion. The amphibious HTEG efficiently captures and converts energy from various environmental sources, successfully illuminating over 30 light‐emitting diodes and powering a thermohygrometer. Notably, it operates with minimal speed requirements, harnessing energy from a light breeze of 1.56 m s⁻¹or a small water flow of 3.8 L min⁻¹, a significant advantage given that most existing devices require much higher speeds for efficient energy harvesting. Moreover, the amphibious HTEG approves practical for daily outdoor use, such as charging mobile phones and powering small electronics through natural energy sources. Furthermore, it can be manually operated without the need for external elements. This compact, portable, and effective energy harvesting design showcases the ability to capture natural energy across diverse environments, demonstrating it as a versatile solution with significant potential for real‐world applications. 

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5. Piezo-Pyro-Photo-electric Energy Harvesting with Smart Materials based Flag

   Ashok BATRA, James SAMPSON (May 2023, Sensors transducers)

   Abstract: This paper aims to develop a novel concept for energy harvesting via flexible inverted flags combining photovoltaic cells with piezoelectric flexible films. Using technology currently available, we have designed and fabricated piezo-pyro-photo-electric harvesters made of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric elements combined with mini solar panels made of silicon. Experimental measurements of the motion dynamics and power generation were collected for the flags when subjected to wind, heat, and light sources simultaneously and individually. Results indicate a significant improvement in energy harvesting capability compared to isolated single piezoelectric devices. Thus, we anticipate a substantial impact of piezo- pyro-photo-electric energy harvesting device applications where remote power generation is needed. The Flag uses flexible piezoelectric and pyroelectric strips and flexible photovoltaic cells panel. The piezo-pyro- simultaneously generates power through movement and heat, respectively, while the photovoltaic cells harvest solar energy to produce electric power. The beauty of this Flag is to develop power day and night depending on the energy sources available. The basic concept is presented and validated by laboratory experiments with controlled airflow, light, and infrared heat. The maximum voltage generated was 60 mV when the Flag was simultaneously exposed to low-level wind, thermal and light energies. 

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