Descripción del proyecto
Un futuro de electrónica ponible perfectamente integrada
En un mundo en el que nuestra salud está controlada por componentes microelectrónicos integrados, es vital disponer de una fuente de alimentación fiable y duradera. La necesidad de una interacción fluida entre nuestro cuerpo y los sistemas digitales ha impulsado el proyecto ThermoTex, financiado por el Consejo Europeo de Investigación. Aprovechando la energía de nuestro calor corporal, el proyecto ThermoTex pretende desarrollar generadores termoeléctricos basados en tejidos que puedan alimentar de forma autónoma los componentes electrónicos incorporados sin necesidad de mantenimiento ni de cambiar las pilas. Teniendo en cuenta que las tecnologías termoeléctricas tradicionales, dependientes de materiales tóxicos caros y frágiles, no son adecuadas para aplicaciones vestibles, el proyecto ThermoTex utilizará semiconductores poliméricos y nanocompuestos. Mediante la creación de materiales con un rendimiento termoeléctrico superior, este proyecto pretende allanar el camino a los textiles termoeléctricos de bajo coste.
Objetivo
Imagine a world, in which countless embedded microelectronic components continuously monitor our health and allow us to seamlessly interact with our digital environment. One particularly promising platform for the realisation of this concept is based on wearable electronic textiles. In order for this technology to become truly pervasive, a myriad of devices will have to operate autonomously over an extended period of time without the need for additional maintenance, repair or battery replacement. The goal of this research programme is to realise textile-based thermoelectric generators that without additional cost can power built-in electronics by harvesting one of the most ubiquitous energy sources available to us: our body heat.
Current thermoelectric technologies rely on toxic inorganic materials that are both expensive to produce and fragile by design, which renders them unsuitable especially for wearable applications. Instead, in this programme we will use polymer semiconductors and nanocomposites. Initially, we will focus on the preparation of materials with a thermoelectric performance significantly beyond the state-of-the-art. Then, we will exploit the ease of shaping polymers into light-weight and flexible articles such as fibres, yarns and fabrics. We will explore both, traditional weaving methods as well as emerging 3D-printing techniques, in order to realise low-cost thermoelectric textiles.
Finally, within the scope of this programme we will demonstrate the ability of prototype thermoelectric textiles to harvest a small fraction of the wearer’s body heat under realistic conditions. We will achieve this through integration into clothing to power off-the-shelf sensors for health care and security applications. Eventually, it can be anticipated that the here interrogated thermoelectric design paradigms will be of significant benefit to the European textile and health care sector as well as society in general.
Ámbito científico
- natural scienceschemical sciencespolymer sciences
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringtextiles
- natural sciencesphysical scienceselectromagnetism and electronicssemiconductivity
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringmanufacturing engineeringadditive manufacturing
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringnanocomposites
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-STG - Starting GrantInstitución de acogida
412 96 GOTEBORG
Suecia