Synergistic fusion of mechanotransduction and power supplying functions towards highly compact and fully self-powered smart wearables

Abstract

Current smart wearables typically necessitate three key elements including sensing units, signal processing circuits, and power supplying units, leading to complex system configuration, large system volume, and high power consumption. Here, we bypass this canonical form by developing a new device modality with both mechanotransduction and power supplying (MPS) functions, which enables to facilely construct highly compact and fully self-powered smart wearables with much improved energy efficiency. The MPS devices are engineered by synergistic fusion of an all-solid-state power supplying unit with an associated passive mechanotransduction element, resulting in a monolithic, compact, and versatile device modality. More imporatantly, the mechanotransduction and power supplying functions can work independently from each other, allowing the MPS devices to continuously monitor external mechanical stimulations and, simultaneously, to provide stable power for external circuitry. As demonstrations, fully isolated, autonomous, and self-powered smart wearables with much reduced power consumption (≈48 % less than conventional systems) can be facilely constructed just by connecting an MPS device to a custom-designed circuit for wireless monitoring and on-site analysis of diverse human vital signals. This study provides a new design philosophy and methodology to create smart wearables with reduced system complexity, improved energy efficiency, and enhanced deployment convenience.