Urine could soon be used to power portable and wearable technology with the development of a new system that uses a pair of socks that pumps human urine to generate electricity. Scientists from the UK developed the new socks that have successfully powered a wireless transmitter to send a signal to a PC.

The technology was based on the fish circulatory system. Initial lab trial shows that the socks, built with miniaturised microbial fuel cells (MFCs) and fuelled with fresh urine, successfully powered a wireless transmission board to send a message every two minutes to a PC.

The pair of socks or wearbale MFC system has a manual pump with soft tubes placed under the heels to ensure frequent fluid push-pull by walking. The system uses the footsteps of the wearer to pump the human urine and produce electricity.

In the report published in the journal Bioinspiration and Biomimetics, the researchers said using “unwanted waste products” as a source of energy could be an alternative method for wearable electronics. They added that urine “can be available for humans in a variety of environments" as a power source.

The researchers primarily aim to use the MFCs to improve wearable technology and to provide a system that is entirely self-sufficient and running only on human power, said Professor Ioannis Ieropoulos, from the University of the West of England.

Urine is an essential energy source, as microbes can break down organic compounds within urine. The process allows the production of carbon dioxide with protons and electrons, which could be utilised to produce electricity, Motherboard reports.

"This work opens up possibilities of using waste for powering portable and wearable electronics,” Ieropoulos said. “For example, recent research shows it should be possible to develop a system based on wearable MFC technology to transmit a person's coordinates in an emergency situation. At the same time this would indicate proof of life since the device will only work if the operator's urine fuels the MFCs."

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