Chip Strap Harvests Energy While You Chew

Sep-20-14 A chinstrap that harvests energy from jaw movements could one day be used to power medical implants and wearable devices.

Jaw motion is considered one of the best sources of generating electricity from body movements, with an average of 7 mW of power possible from simply chewing meals. The chinstrap, created by a team from Canada, is made of piezoelectric composites that will generate an electric charge when stretched. In tests, 60 seconds of chewing resulted in about 10 µW, which the team admits is far from enough to power even the smallest device. However, the next step is to add more PFC layers to the strap, which will increase its harnessing capacity, and to integrate a small battery into the device.

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[GIZMAG.COM]
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