Research Progress on Human Body Energy Harvesting and Storage Systems for Wearable Electronic Devices
摘要
With the advancement of artificial intelligence, wearable technology is evolving toward multifunctionality, integration, flexibility, and intelligence. Wearable electronic products such as smartwatches, fitness bands, and medical assistive devices are increasingly prevalent in people's lives. This trend enables rich applications such as health monitoring, human–machine interaction, and the Internet of Things. Energy availability remains a significant challenge for wearable devices, with energy harvesting emerging as an ideal alternative to batteries in wearable technology. The rapid development of energy harvesting creates new opportunities for wearable energy solutions. Various energy sources can power wearable devices, including mechanical, thermal, chemical, solar, radio frequency, wind, acoustic, vibration, and thermal energy. However, providing stable performance over extended periods remains highly challenging. Moreover, most wearable energy harvesters rely on specific materials or structures, which may create inconvenience when applied on the human body. To illustrate the power supply and storage issues of wearable electronic devices based on the human body, we review the latest advancements in self-charging power systems integrated with energy harvesting and storage devices. Key achievements in this field include the integration of various renewable energy sources such as mechanical, solar, and thermal energies, as well as multiple energy sources. Different integration schemes (integrated within device modules vs. separate units or electrode modules with shared electrodes) and various mechanisms for storing harvested energy using electrochemical batteries or supercapacitors demonstrate promising sustainable power systems for wearable/portable electronics or sensor environments. These self-charging power systems, utilizing diverse energy resources, exhibit respective advantages in the field of wearable energy harvesting.