Harvesting body heat using thermoelectricity provides a promising path to realizing self-powered, wearable electronics that can achieve continuous, long-term, uninterrupted health monitoring. This paper reports a flexible thermoelectric generator (TEG) that provides efficient conversion of body heat to electrical energy. The device relies on a low thermal conductivity aerogel–silicone composite that secures and thermally isolates the individual semiconductor elements that are connected in series using stretchable eutectic gallium-indium (EGaIn) liquid metal interconnects. The composite consists of aerogel particulates mixed into polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) providing as much as 50% reduction in the thermal conductivity of the silicone elastomer. Worn on the wrist, the flexible TEGs present output power density figures approaching 35 μWcm⁻² at an air velocity of 1.2 ms⁻¹, equivalent to walking speed. The results suggest that these flexible TEGs can serve as the main energy source for low-power wearable electronics.

利用热电收集人体热量为实现自供电可穿戴电子设备提供了一条有希望的途径，该电子设备可以实现连续，长期，不间断的健康监测。本文报道了一种灵活的热电发电机（TEG），该发电机可将人体热能有效转换为电能。该器件依赖于低导热率的气凝胶-硅树脂复合材料，该复合材料可通过可拉伸的共晶镓铟铟（EGaIn）液态金属互连来固定并热隔离串联连接的各个半导体元件。该复合材料由混合到聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDMS）中的气凝胶颗粒组成，可将有机硅弹性体的热导率降低多达50％。灵活的TEG戴在手腕上，其输出功率密度值接近35μWcm^{− 2}的风速为1.2 ms ^{− 1}，相当于步行速度。结果表明，这些灵活的TEG可以用作低功耗可穿戴电子设备的主要能源。