Self-Powered All-in-One Wearable Bioelectronics Driven by Pneumatic Energy Buffering of Daily Footsteps.

Authors

Ji-Seok Kim, Tae Woog Kang, Hyunjoon Yoo, Jawon Ha, Yunuo Huang, Hee Han, Chi Won Ahn, Woon-Hong Yeo, Il-Kwon Oh

Published in

Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany). Pages e77158. Aug 11, 2026. Epub Aug 11, 2026.

Abstract

Recent advances in wearable biosensing technologies have underscored the importance of continuous and reliable personal health monitoring. However, the limited size and capacity of conventional batteries remain a critical bottleneck for long-term operation. Here, we present integrated self-powered wearable bioelectronics driven by an air-pumping pneumatic energy buffering mechanism, which converts intermittent human motion into sustained mechanical rotation during walking and efficiently generates electrical energy. The air-driven rotation persists for 1.5 s per step, enabling continuous power generation from inherently low-frequency biomechanical inputs and serving as a lightweight frequency-regulating mechanism for wearable energy harvesters. To facilitate efficient integration with energy storage systems, a power management system is developed to directly charge a compact battery. In addition, a wearable photoplethysmography (PPG) device is designed to mitigate motion-induced artifacts, enabling robust physiological signal acquisition during dynamic conditions. Owing to its Velcro-type design, the PPG system demonstrates improved signal reliability compared to conventional devices. By integrating the energy harvester with the PPG, a self-powered wearable biosensing platform has been successfully demonstrated. Unlike conventional wearable energy harvesters that directly convert transient biomechanical inputs into short-duration electrical outputs, the proposed system introduces a pneumatic energy buffering mechanism that enables quasi-continuous power generation from inherently intermittent human motion.

PMID:
42579617
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 12 Aug 2026.

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