Energy Generating Cloth

March 10th, 2015 by

Researchers from Sungkyunkwan University of Korea and the University of Wollongong of Australia have developed the first reported durable, flexible cloth that can harness motion to generate energy.  The new material has potential application in wearable electronics that rely on human motion rather than batteries.Alternatively, the new textile could also be used to charge batteries or supercapacitors. The cloth is based on triboelectric nanogenerators (TNGs), which makes use of two materials with different polarities. When there is contact or friction between the two materials and then they are separated, electrons are generated and can flow through a connected device. The researchers developed a new method of incorporating TNGs into cloth that allows it to be chemically and physically durable. The result is a silverized cloth material with nanorods and a silicon-based organic material. Using the textile, the researchers were able to generate an output voltage of up to 120V.

 

source: American Chemical Society