Key Takeaways & Executive Findings
- •• Graphene fibers exhibit exceptional mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties, making them ideal for wearable energy harvesting. • Fabrication methods such as wet spinning, confined hydrothermal synthesis, and CVD enable scalable production of high-performance graphene fibers. • GF-based devices can harvest solar, thermal, and moisture energy, offering promising solutions for self-powered wearable electronics. • Current challenges include improving energy conversion efficiency and integrating these fibers into practical wearable systems.
Abstract
Graphene fibers (GFs) have demonstrated high strength, high electrical and thermal conductivity, mechanical flexibility, chemical stability, and good functionality, etc. at the macro-scale, and have been used in many different fields, particularly next-generation wearable and flexible devices. This review provides an overview of recent advances in the fabrication of GFs, including wet spinning, confined hydrothermal synthesis, chemical vapor deposition, and other emerging techniques. Special emphasis is placed on the development of GF-based devices that convert solar, thermal, or moisture energy from the environment into electrical energy. The working principles, structural design, and performance of these devices are summarized and current challenges and prospects for their use in wearable energy systems are detailed.
1. Introduction
Graphene, a two-dimensional (2D) honeycomb carbon material, has high electron mobility (2×10^5 cm^2/(V·s)), excellent thermal conductivity (5×10^3 W/(m·K)), large surface area (2.63×10^3 m^2/g), and promising mechanical elasticity (1 TPa) and stiffness (340 N/m). Assembling atomic-thin graphene sheets into functional macroscopic fibers has attracted much attention because of the numerous potential applications in light-weight aircraft, wearable or foldable electronics, advanced energy devices and so on.
Because of the irregular size/shape of 2D graphene sheets and the complexities involved in their layer-by-layer assembly, great efforts have been dedicated to achieving the construction of GF. For example, in 2011, a wet spinning method was developed to fabricate graphene oxide (GO) fiber based on the formed orientated GO liquid crystal (LC) during flow process for the first time. Then, graphene fibers (GFs) of several meters in length were obtained after chemical reduction or high-temperature treatment. Dong et al. prepared electrically conductive GF directly from GO solution through the space-confined hydrothermal strategy.
To date, the mechanical strength of GF has reached approximately 3.4 GPa, nearly 10 times greater than that of the GF produced in 2011. Meanwhile, the electrical conductivity of GF have also reached about 8 × 10^5 S/m and a thermal conductivity of 1290 W/(m·K), respectively. Importantly, the ability to tune chemical composition and physical structure has endowed GF with diversified functional properties, including high flexibility, stretchability, charge storage capacity, energy conversion capacity and so on, which will subsequently provide unconventional solutions for next-generation technologies by leveraging graphene-based fiber.
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Guang Tianlei, Cheng Huhu, Qu Liangti (2025). Wearable energy harvesters based on graphene fibers. SinoTechIntel Verified Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1872-5805(NCM2026-41-03-01)
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are graphene fibers?
Graphene fibers are macroscopic fibers assembled from graphene sheets, exhibiting high strength, electrical and thermal conductivity, flexibility, and chemical stability, making them suitable for wearable and flexible devices.
How are graphene fibers fabricated?
Graphene fibers can be fabricated via wet spinning of graphene oxide, confined hydrothermal synthesis, chemical vapor deposition, and other emerging techniques, each offering control over fiber structure and properties.
What energy harvesting applications do graphene fibers have?
Graphene fibers are used in fibrous solar cells, thermoelectric generators, and moist-electric generators, converting solar, thermal, or moisture energy into electrical energy for wearable applications.
What are the key challenges for graphene fiber energy harvesters?
Challenges include improving energy conversion efficiency, scalability of production, integration into wearable systems, and ensuring long-term stability and comfort.
What is the significance of graphene fibers in wearable technology?
Graphene fibers offer lightweight, flexible, and high-performance energy harvesting solutions, enabling self-powered wearable electronics and advancing next-generation smart textiles.
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