Wearable solar fluidic system

Plants' transpiration, driven by solar energy to flow water and ions, provides an inspiring blueprint for self-powered systems that will revolutionize our interaction with environment and sustain human life. However, mimicking plant transpiration and osmosis in artificial materials remains a major challenge. Here, we present a wearable solar fluidic system that harnesses human sweat to enable self-sufficient freshwater production, energy supply, and information exchange. By designing a photothermal fabric that can generate a temperature gradient between skin and environment, sweat evaporation and ion flow can drive to provide sustained electrical power without external energy input. In outdoor wearing tests, these fluidic fabrics can produce fresh water of 24.2 liters per kilogram and deliver 8.50 volts of power, ultimately powering a Mars rover wirelessly. Our approach provides an emerging pathway toward self-sufficient, portable ecosystems capable of sustaining human life and communication, with the potential to advance wearable technology, fluid engineering, and human exploration.

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Publication Details

Journal
Science Advances
Published
2025-10-29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aea1399
Primary Topic
Solar-Powered Water Purification Methods
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Wearable solar fluidic system

Weibing Lu, Yunqian Dai, Tao Zhang, Aiguo Song et al.
Science Advances
Solar-Powered Water Purification Methods
article

Wearable solar fluidic system

Weibing Lu, Yunqian Dai, Tao Zhang, Aiguo Song, Xiangyu Meng, Buyun Yu, Qi Zhan, Tianyuan Miao, Yujie Xiong, Xin Wang, Wei Liu, Yueming Sun
article en

Abstract

Plants' transpiration, driven by solar energy to flow water and ions, provides an inspiring blueprint for self-powered systems that will revolutionize our interaction with environment and sustain human life. However, mimicking plant transpiration and osmosis in artificial materials remains a major challenge. Here, we present a wearable solar fluidic system that harnesses human sweat to enable self-sufficient freshwater production, energy supply, and information exchange. By designing a photothermal fabric that can generate a temperature gradient between skin and environment, sweat evaporation and ion flow can drive to provide sustained electrical power without external energy input. In outdoor wearing tests, these fluidic fabrics can produce fresh water of 24.2 liters per kilogram and deliver 8.50 volts of power, ultimately powering a Mars rover wirelessly. Our approach provides an emerging pathway toward self-sufficient, portable ecosystems capable of sustaining human life and communication, with the potential to advance wearable technology, fluid engineering, and human exploration.

Science AdvancesVol. 11(44)
University of Science and Technology of China (CN), Hefei National Center for Physical Sciences at Nanoscale (CN), Purple Mountain Laboratories (CN), State Key Laboratory of Millimeter Waves, Anhui Normal University (CN), Southeast University (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 78%
Solar-Powered Water Purification Methods
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