Your clothing may power your next portable music device

Your clothing may power your next portable music device

You could be wearing the power source for your next portable music device if nanotechnology researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are successful in developing a shirt that harvests energy from the wearer’s physical motion and converts it into electricity. This motion could power small electronic devices worn by soldiers in the field or even by hikers or other active users.

The research, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) will use pairs of textile fibers covered with zinc oxide nanowires to generate electricity in response to applied mechanical stress. This piezoelectric effect provides a current flow from many fiber pairs woven into a shirt or jacket and allows body movement to power a range of portable electronic devices. The fibers could also be woven into curtains, tents or other structures to capture energy from wind motion, sound vibration or other mechanical energy.

A scanning electron microscopy image shows the piezoelectric zinc oxide nanowires. The two sets of nanowires meet teeth-to-teeth, allowing the gold-coated microfibers to scrub those not coated with gold to produce electricity via a coupled piezoelectric-semiconducting process. (Image courtesy of Z.L. Wang and X.D. Wang, Georgia Institute of Technology)

The researchers measured current of about 4 nA and output voltage of about 4 mV from a nanogenerator that included two fibers that were each 1 cm long. With a much improved design, a square meter of fabric made from the special fibers could theoretically generate as much as 80 mW of power. Unfortunately, shirts would have to be protected from the effects of the washing machine to keep the piezo electricity effect. For more information, visit http://www.nanoscience.gatech.edu/zlwang/wang.html.

Paul O’Shea