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Energy Harvesting Using Cotton Fabric Embedded with 2D Hexagonal Boron Nitride
Preeti L Mahapatra1, Appu K Singh2, Basudev Lahiri3
1School of Nano Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, West Bengal 721302, India.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
|June 21, 2022
Summary
This study presents a flexible hybrid device made from hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) and cotton for continuous health monitoring. The device effectively detects subtle physiological signals like heartbeats and breathing pressure, paving the way for self-charging health-monitoring textiles.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Wearable Technology
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Continuous health monitoring is vital for early detection of cardiac and respiratory conditions.
- Wearable devices offer a promising avenue for real-time physiological signal detection.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a flexible hybrid device for sensitive detection of physiological signals.
- To investigate the potential of hBN/cotton hybrid materials for energy-harvesting and health monitoring applications.
Main Methods:
- Fabrication of a flexible hexagonal boron nitride (hBN)/cotton hybrid device.
- Real-time motion sensing to measure voltage output from physiological signals.
- Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) calculations to analyze material interactions.
Main Results:
- The hBN/cotton device demonstrated a peak-to-peak voltage output of ~1.5 V per heartbeat.
- A high voltage output of up to ~10 V was achieved under ~3 MPa pressure.
- FTIR and DFT analyses revealed a chemical interaction between hBN and cellulose, leading to enhanced output voltage due to charge localization at the atomic interface.
Conclusions:
- The developed hBN/cotton hybrid device shows significant potential for sensitive detection of physiological signals.
- The material's properties enable its use in self-charging, health-monitoring energy-harvesting textiles.
- This work offers new opportunities for advanced wearable health monitoring solutions.
