Proof-of-concept points to flexible wearables

In the proof-of-concept study from North Carolina State University (NC State), researchers acknowledge that the performance and efficiency of flexible devices is inferior to rigid devices, which are used to monitor a variety of health and environmental measures.

"We wanted to design a flexible thermoelectric harvester that does not compromise on the material quality of rigid devices yet provides similar or better efficiency," said Mehmet Ozturk, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State and corresponding author of a paper describing the work. "Using rigid devices is not the best option when you consider a number of different factors." These could include contact resistance, plus the ergonomic and comfort considerations to the device wearer.

Ozturk said that he and colleagues Michael Dickey and Daryoosh Vashaee wanted to utilise the best thermoelectric materials used in rigid devices in a flexible package, so that manufacturers wouldn't need to develop new materials when creating flexible devices.