Stretchy bands generate electricity from body heat to power gadgets

By Priti Parikh

Self-healing and eco-friendly devices that generate electricity from body heat could power wearable gadgets, such as a heart monitor for runners.

Jianliang Xiao at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and his colleagues created devices based on thermoelectric generators, which convert heat into electricity. The team embedded a number of these generators in a thin film made from a flexible polymer called polyimine and wired them together with a liquid gallium-indium alloy to create stretchable bands that can be worn on arms, legs and fingers. The device costs less than $10 …