Printed Energy Harvesting Electrodes: Sustainable Power Solutions for Batteryless Smart Diapers

Amid the rapid expansion of internet-of-things (IoT) devices, one of the most significant challenges is how to power these wireless sensor nodes adopting sustainable and environment-friendly solutions as the conventional batteries are inadequate to meet the power demands of the vast IoT ecosystem. Recent years have witnessed remarkable advancements in IoT sensor electronics, particularly in wearable biomedical devices. Innovative approaches have emerged to design energy-optimized electronic systems, opening the door to batteryless applications through energy harvesting techniques. In this study, a novel energy harvesting solution is proposed by designing sustainable energy harvesting electrodes, leveraging the capabilities of printed electronics technology. These electrodes are engineered directly on diaper back sheets to harvest green energy from urine with the ultimate goal of powering energy-efficient wearable IoT sensor nodes for batteryless smart diapers. The study encompasses a comprehensive characterization of these sustainable harvesting electrodes, involving experiments conducted within a controlled laboratory environment employing both in-jar and in-diaper deployment. The results demonstrate the great promise of continuously powering the IoT sensor nodes overnight to have batteryless smart diaper operations. This research highlights a significant stride towards addressing the power challenges of the ever-expanding IoT ecosystem.