Scalable All-Textile Energy Harvesters for Electric Power Generation

High quality textiles that can harvest mechanical energy and convert it into electrical energy

PolyU’s textile energy harvester is developed based on innovative structural design of energy harvesting materials. It fully integrates clean and sustainable electric energy generating functions within fabric structures, and exhibits better electric performance among similar products.

The energy harvester retains all excellent properties and characteristics of fabric, including wearability, washability, breathability, thermal comfort, durability, super-flexibility, light weight, size scalability and tailorability into different shapes. The textile energy harvester can harvest mechanical energies broadly wasted in the environment, e.g. energy generated during walking, and convert them into electricity. It also works as an independent and continuous energy source without restrictions of weather conditions for wearable devices.

Moreover, the energy harvester can be economically fabricated with commercial textile machines. It shows enormous application and market potentials in the areas of sustainable energy development and truly wearable electronics.

The electrical performance and applications of the energy harvester

The energy harvester is tailorable into any shapes and sizes, it is also washable and air dryable without affecting its electrical conversation performance

Special Features and Advantages

Sustainable in energy harvesting, as an independent and continuous energy source without restrictions of weather conditions
Efficient in energy conversion and durable
Comfortable that possess full textile structures, properties and characteristics e.g. lightweight and super-flexible, easy for storage, transportation and installation, etc.
Tailorable and scalable into any shapes and sizes
Washable and can be air-dried like ordinary fabrics without affecting its electrical performance
Commercializable: can be fabricated using existing industrial machines and thus have a huge potential for industrial mass production and commercialization

Applications

Wearable power sources for driving portable and wearable devices, e.g. LED display, hearing aid, fitness tracker, wearable sensor
Large-scale power sources, e.g. energy-generating carpet that can generate electrical power when people walk or vehicles move over it
Energy harvesters for energy storage devices, e.g. capacitor or battery • Self-powered sensing systems for healthcare and monitoring, e.g. sleep-monitoring mattress, motion-tracking carpet
Self-powered textile platform incorporated into desired electronics, e.g. fabric circuit board, smart and interactive garment

Award & Patent

Gold Medal with the Congratulations of Jury – 46th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva, Switzerland (Apr 2018)

Patent Application No.:

201810095684.6 (China)

Principal Investigator

Dr Bingang XU

Institute of Textiles and Clothing

Download PDF version