(March 4, 2015) From light-up shoes to smart watches, wearable electronics
are gaining traction among consumers, but these gadgets’ versatility is still
held back by the stiff, short-lived batteries that are required. These
limitations, however, could soon be overcome. In the journal ACS Nano,
scientists report the first durable, flexible cloth that harnesses human motion
to generate energy. It can also self-charge batteries or supercapacitors
without an external power source and make new commercial and medical
applications possible.