Thermogalvanic hydrogel cools down electronic devices

A new thermogalvanic hydrogel can simultaneously cool down electronic devices and convert the waste heat they produce into electricity. The material, developed by a team of researchers at Wuhan University in China and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in the US, decreases the temperature of a mobile phone battery by 20°C and retrieves 5 μW of electricity at fast discharging rates. This reduced working temperature ensures that the battery operates safely, while the amount of electricity harvested is enough to power the hydrogel’s cooling system.