The Prospect and Analysis of Nanogenerator for Wearable Devices

Abstract

With the emergence of wearable devices such as Google glasses, I Watch, Active trackers and etc., people are becoming increasingly interested in wearable device and an increasing number of electronics and functionalized components are being applied to wearable devices. Even though wearable devices do not consume too much energy, the requirement for sustainability still brings a big challenge for power supplying. In fact, the battery life of most wearable devices cannot satisfy the users’ demand. On the other hand, because of the devices’ characteristic of being “wearable”, there is much higher demand for safety, life span, pollution and comfort in power supply components. Therefore, how to provide continuous and environmentally-friendly power supply for wearable devices becomes a popular research topic. In 2012, when the Triboelectric Nano generator (TENG) was first introduced, it drew everyone’s attention because of its advantages of lightweight, safety, cleanness and sustainability. The possibility of using Nano generator technology as a self-driven power supply for wearable devices will be discussed in this paper.