With more humans populating the planet every day, we are consuming natural resources such as electricity and water at exponentially accelerated rates. For many of these people, healthcare is an inaccessible and unaffordable option. But what if I told you that right now, there’s a way to produce sustainable energy while making healthcare more convenient and affordable for everyone?

The solution to this question is the nanogenerator which generates nanoenergy. Accordingly, this is the study of small-scale highly efficient energy harvesting, storage, and applications by using nanomaterials and nanodevices. In other words, through the use of nanotechnology, we are able to produce very finite amounts of energy, nanoenergy, that are extremely efficient. There are many types of nanogenerators which accomplish this feat, but a main few are the triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG), piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENG), and magnetoelastic generators (MEG). 

For those that are less familiar with physics and engineering, the types of nanogenerators are differentiated based on the way that they harvest energy. In the scope of healthcare, nanogenerators have the same goal, which is to harvest the energy that you produce in your daily life through movements such as talking, blinking, heart beating, bowel movements, walking, etc., and convert it into electrical energy that can be used to power your phone, watch, lights in the house, and so much more. An example of a working mode of a TENG is that of vertical-contact separation: by just pressing (in an up and down direction) on the TENG with your finger, you are able to generate small amounts of electricity.

Imagine forgetting to charge your phone before going to school, but because you have a nanogenerator, all of the walking and talking you do at school charges your phone throughout the day. How amazing is that? Moreover, the fact that TENGs are relatively cheap to fabricate and can even be made with household items like aluminum foil, copper wires, and tape, makes them easily accessible to the general public. On the flip side, newer nanotechnologies can be more expensive and complex. For context, the first TENGs were developed in 2012, and the first MEGs were developed in 2021 by UCLA bioengineers. Since then, TENGs and PENGS have been integrated into various products like shoe insoles, face masks, gloves, clothes, pacemakers, and so much more. Essentially, all of these integrated nanogenerators allow the person wearing them to generate electricity from their bodily movements or functions, and use them to power other devices.

However, scientists and engineers continue to make rapid advances in these fields and are continuing to learn how to implement these relatively new technologies into our everyday lives. Currently, nanogenerators integrated in biomedical devices show high promise for therapeutics, monitoring, sensing, and stimulation–through wearable bioelectronics or in vivo (inside of the human body) devices (Chen). For example, by allowing your Fitbit or Apple Watch to charge on its own, you won’t ever have to take it off to charge it. And by integrating these wearable bioelectronic devices with computer software programs which allow you to communicate with your physician, then what if you didn’t have to ever go to the doctor’s office? You could skip out on a doctor’s visit every year if your monitoring bioelectronic shares data with your physician who can see your vitals in real time wherever you are. That’s just one example of some of the amazing benefits that a nanogenerator can have. And all of this is only limited by the current state of technology and creativity. Technology will always improve, and someone will always have amazing ideas!

Overall, nanogenerators are cutting-edge technologies that will shape our future by making healthcare more accessible and creating sustainable energy that will reduce the consumption of precious fossil fuels.

References

Chen, Jun. “Wearable Bioelectronics” BE 166/266 Wearable Bioelectronics, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Spring 2022.

Giant magnetoelastic effect in soft systems for bioelectronics

Material aspects of triboelectric energy generation and sensors

Nanogenerators: An Emerging Technology Towards Nanoenergy

Recent Progress of Wearable Piezoelectric Nanogenerators

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Triboelectric Nanogenerator Enabled Smart Shoes for Wearable Electricity Generation

Triboelectric Nanogenerator from Used Surgical Face Mask and Waste Mylar Materials Aiding the Circular Economy

Triboelectric Nanogenerator: Structure, Mechanism, and Applications

UCLA Bioengineers Develop New Class of Human-Powered Bioelectronics