Skip to main content

Wearable Self Sufficient MFC Communication System Powered by Urine

  • Conference paper

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 8717))

Abstract

A new generation of self-sustainable and wearable Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) is introduced. Two different types of energy - chemical energy found in urine and mechanical energy harvested by manual pumping - were converted to electrical energy. The wearable system is fabricated using flexible MFCs with urine used as the feedstock for the bacteria, which was pumped by a manual foot pump. The pump was developed using check valves and soft tubing. The MFC system has been assembled within a pair of socks.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Arunachalam, V.S., Fleischer, E.: Harnessing materials for energy. MRS Bulletin, 33 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Leonov, V., Torfs, T., Vullers, R.J., Van Hoof, C.: Hybrid thermoelectric–photovoltaic generators in wireless electroencephalography diadem and electrocardiography shirt. Journal of Electronic Materials 39, 1674–1680 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Leonov, V., Vullers, R.J.M.: Wearable electronics self-powered by using human body heat: The state of the art and the perspective. Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy 1, 062701 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Majid, T., Virgilio, M., Ali, S., Barbara, M., Lucia, B.: A novel soft metal-polymer composite for multi-directional pressure energy harvesting. Advanced Energy Materials (2014) doi:10.1002/aenm.201400024

    Google Scholar 

  5. Ieropoulos, I., Greenman, J., Melhuish, C.: Urine utilisation by microbial fuel cells; energy fuel for the future. Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics 14, 94–98 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Ieropoulos, I., Greenman, J., Melhuish, C., Horsfield, I.: EcoBot-III: A robot with guts. In: 12th International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems, Artificial Life XII, pp. 733–740 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Degrenne, N., Buret, F., Allard, B., Bevilacqua, P.: Electrical energy generation from a large number of microbial fuel cells operating at maximum power point electrical load. Journal of Power Sources 205, 188–193 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this paper

Cite this paper

Taghavi, M. et al. (2014). Wearable Self Sufficient MFC Communication System Powered by Urine. In: Mistry, M., Leonardis, A., Witkowski, M., Melhuish, C. (eds) Advances in Autonomous Robotics Systems. TAROS 2014. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 8717. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10401-0_12

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10401-0_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-10400-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-10401-0

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics