The trick thing about peizoelectric materials is that they can generate electrical currents through simple mechanical stresses – they essentially convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. The technology has great potential for future energy-generation solutions, including future cellphones powered by your body! New research breakthroughs in nanowire technology has allowed scientists to harness the energy of low-frequency vibrations (like a heart beat or the rise and fall of your chest as you breathe) using zinc oxide nanowires.
The research team has been working on nanowire technology for some time now. We previously saw Georgia Institute of Technology’s Zhong Lin Wang making breakthroughs in nanowire technology that allowed the team to make a nano-generator using an array of nanowires. Using tiny nanowires that are 1/5,000th and 1/25th the diameter of a human hair, Wang and his team are able to convert the mechanical energy involved in flexing a nanowire into the electrical energy we can use to power our mobile phones!
Wang and his team are confident that the nanowire technology “can be used to generate energy under any circumstances as long as there is movement.” In fact, Wang’s nanogenerators were recently demonstrated to capture movement-energy from a small mouse. And, since nanowires can be grown on metals, ceramics, polymers and even clothing, there’s no lack of potential applications for embedded nanogenerators. Nanowires may someday be used to embed nanogenerators into clothing, generating electrical charge as you go about your daily routine.
Imagine that, a you-powered cellphone of the future. Now that is a future we’d love to live.
[Via: FoxNews]