A wearable helical organic–inorganic photodetector with thermoelectric generators as the power source

Abstract

A self-powering feature is particularly appealing for wearable electronic devices when facing the challenges of energy and environmental crises. Photodetectors (PDs), as promising candidates for health and environment monitoring, are urgently desired to meet the requirements of being wearable and powerless. Unlike conventional photovoltaic-type PDs, we have come up with a novel approach to make a self-powered wearable PD, which involves connecting PDs with thermoelectric generators (TEGs) in series on the surface of a three-dimensional helical polymer substrate. The wearable system is light-weight, flexible and breathable. More importantly, compared with photovoltaic-type self-powered PDs, wearable PDs powered by TEGs will work as a system whose output signal can be greatly amplified by the temperature difference between the human body and the environment in winter when UV intensity is relatively low.