Image via Georgia Institute of Technology
According to scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology, tribo-electricity looks like an amazing clean power alternative, generating electricity that doesn’t pose as a detriment to the environment. The team of Georgia Tech researchers built a device that converts particular movements into a source of effective power.
These movements include any and everyday motions, like walking, waves crashing, rainfall, or dancing, that can be wired to drive sensors, mobile devices, and potentially electric plants. The lead professor, Zhong Lin Wang, depicts this technology as the ultimate step forward in harnessing power naturally. He explained, “Our technology can be used for large-scale energy harvesting, so that the energy we have wasted for centuries will be useful.”
The term “tribo-electric” stems from the Greek word for “rub,” since the electricity begins when friction occurs between two objects. This causes a charge of electrons, allowing them to be transferred to one another. This can occur when plastic-soled shoes touch a nylon coted rug. A spur of static charge emits when the two objects meet, just like when hands get shocked when they sometimes touch metal doorknobs.
In the past, tribo-electric power had not been taken seriously because of its unpredictability. Magnetic induction, where a turbine runs by nuclear or fossil-powered water or steam, has always been favored over tribo-electric power. Wang’s team has begun hurdling over some of these obstacles, as published in the journal Nature Communications. The team has successfully adapted to these issues by converting electrical charge into current. This version of creating tribo-electric energy has various counterparts. There is a 4-inch disc that shoes the powerful potential from a tiny generator that gains movement by ambient energy. Inside the disc are two circular sheets; one is an electron donor, while the other is the receiver. Both of these components near each other via rotary movement. When the sheets are separated, one contains the electrical charge that is isolated in the gap between the two sheets. Between the two discs is a third disc that contains electrodes. These electrodes bridge the gap between the sheets and conduct a current to flow.
The materials used to make this model include copper and gold, that can be substituted for other inexpensive synthetics if needed.
When tested, the device produced 1.5 watts of electricity, hitting the maximum speed of 3,000 revolutions per minute. This form of energy is three times more efficient than the previously deemed supreme source of energy, piezoelectric energy. Tribo-electric power is also as effective as magnetic-induction tubes. This newly invented device can create power from water or wind, elevating natural energy generation to the next level. Wang stated, “As long as there is mechanical action, there is power that can be generated.”
Story via Georgia Institute of Technology, Phys.org
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