Most of us get hot and sweaty when we workout. What if this heat could be captured and turned into energy? This is exactly what researchers from the University of Málaga in Spain and the Italian Institute of Technology had in mind when they created their thermoelectric t-shirt.
The shirt uses thermoelectric energy, meaning it lets you convert temperature differences into energy. This technology has been used in other heat-generating systems such as cars and industrial processes, but this is the first time it has been adapted into a flexible, biodegradable, and inexpensive material.
The shirt uses tomato skins as a bio-based glue and combines them with carbon nanoparticles to capture energy. The product is still in the prototype phase of development, but they hope it could be used to capture energy in extreme situations (such as space missions) and within the world of wearables, it could be applied to power cell phones, medical sensors, or wristwatches. A shirt that generates electricity may sound a bit ridiculous, but the scientists behind the energy-producing t-shirt believe it could be an important wearable in the future.
