Sweat-pumping cooling fabric for enhanced power generation and comfort

Energy harvesting devices are the critical components in the self-powered wearable microelectronic systems. However, insufficient electrical output limits their effectiveness as wearable power supplies, and poor moisture/thermal management often causes discomfort, particularly with sweat release. Here, we report a self-powered, self-cooling fabric that not only enhances electrical output but also actively improves wear comfort by pumping out sweat through directional water transport. This synergistic effect of water removal and ion migration enables simultaneous electricity generation and cooling. The fabric was rationally designed to balance power output with comfort: water evaporation on the liquid diode with gradient wetting channels reaches 0.56 g·h⁻¹, effectively dehumidifying and dissipating body heat with a temperature reduction of 6.3 °C. The devices deliver a DC current output of 0.40 mA·cm⁻²—twice that of devices without the liquid diode—sufficient to power a wide range of practical wearable electronics. Wearable energy-harvesting devices suffer from low electrical output and poor wear comfort. Here, authors develop a self-powered fabric with good wear comfort that pumps sweat directionally, achieving 6.3 °C skin cooling and a 0.40 mA·cm⁻² DC current output for practical wearable power supply.