As we all know, life with a smartphone means life attached to a smartphone charger. But what if you could re-charge your phone with something that’s around you almost all the time—like sound? Life would be a lot simpler, which is why UK researchers have come up with a nanorod coating for your phone that can do just that.
In collaboration with Nokia, researchers at the Queen Mary University of London have come up with nanorods comprised of zinc oxide that can be applied to the surface of your phone or other materials. According to their studies, this piezoelectric zinc oxide creates a voltage as it expands and contracts, and when used as a coating, could help charge your electronic devices.
The nanorods’ microscopic contractions, which are in response to everyday noises, creates a charge that can be captured by electrical contacts—on on either side of the rod—which can in turn be used for keeping your battery fully charged.
The Queen Mary team has created a prototype of their device, where they sprayed their zinc oxide nanorods onto the typical plastics you would find on a phone. They also swapped in aluminum for the zinc oxide rods, rather than the more common gold.
Their prototype is around the size of a Nokia Lumia, and can generate a charge up to 5 volts when it’s exposed to loud noise. It’s not particularly a method that will charge your phone quickly, but as most of us spend life with our chargers attached to our hands, every little bit helps.
Source Gizmodo
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