Garment embedded sweat-activated batteries in wearable electronics for continuous sweat monitoring

Abstract

Thin, soft, and skin-integrated electronic system has great advantages for realizing continuous human healthcare monitoring. Here, we report an ultra-thin, flexible, and garment-based microelectronics powered by sweat-activated batteries (SABs) and applications of powering biosensors and microelectronic systems for real time sweat monitoring. The SAB cell is ultra-thin (1.25 mm) with excellent biocompatibility. The SAB has good electricity output with high capacity (14.33 mAh) and maximum power density (3.17 mW cm−2) after being activated by the sweat volume of 0.045 mL cm−2, which could continuously power 120 light emitting diodes over 3 h. The outputs could maintain stable after repeatable bending. Wireless microelectronics system could be continuously powered by the SABs for 3 h to monitor sweat and physiological information, including sweat Na+ concentration, pH, and skin impedance. The reported integrated system provides a potential for solving the power issues of flexible wearable electronics and realizing personalized medicine.

Toward a new generation of permeable skin electronics

“…Sweat-activated batteries are also considered to be a promising energy supply candidate. 284,285 For instance, Liu et al reported an ultrathin breathable bandage-based sweat-activated battery, composed of two encapsulation PDMS layers (the top layer of 0.8 mm and bottom layer of 1.6 mm) and a series of electronic components. 276 The Ni/graphene foam sweat-activated battery was attached to human skin via a bandage, with breathable sports tape (0.3 mm) for air exchange.…”

Applications of Smart Material Sensors and Soft Electronics in Healthcare Wearables for Better User Compliance

“…This dearth gave rise to an era where energy is harvested from the wearer’s environment or the human body itself [ 11 ]. Presently, energy harvesting systems are of the following types: solar or biofuel cells, triboelectric, or thermoelectric nanogenerators [ 11 , 116 ]. Examples of these include cardiac motion-powered pacemakers [ 117 ], sweat-activated batteries [ 116 ], radiofrequency-powered subcutaneous optoelectronic systems for neuroscience research [ 118 ], piezoelectric knee-joint movement-based energy harvesters [ 119 ], and wave-shaped piezoelectric composite for blood-pressure based energy harvesting [ 120 ].…”

Promising applications of human-derived saliva biomarker testing in clinical diagnostics

“… 20 Recently, studies about sweat distributed in wearable devices or detecting biosensors. 21 , 22 Ray et al developed a label-free optical detection system to simultaneously examine multiple stress biomarkers. 23 They found that cortisol could be detected in sweat, saliva, urine, plasma, and serum; serotonin and dopamine were measurable in plasma and serum; neuropeptide Y was detected in all these four biological fluids.…”