{"id":21387,"date":"2017-07-25T17:42:35","date_gmt":"2017-07-25T21:42:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/?p=21387"},"modified":"2021-05-22T16:17:02","modified_gmt":"2021-05-22T20:17:02","slug":"vanderbilt-university-renewable-power-generators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/vanderbilt-university-renewable-power-generators\/","title":{"rendered":"Can I Borrow Your Jacket to Charge My Phone? Vanderbilt University Researchers Turn Clothing Into Renewable Power Generators"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every movement made by a human being expends energy. Specifically, movement of any part of the body requires our muscles to convert glucose (our body\u2019s main source of fuel) into kinetic energy (movement). The most common processes of generating usable electricity convert the kinetic energy of moving water, wind, internal combustion engines, or steam into electrical current. This raises the question — can we somehow harness the existing kinetic energy of daily human motion to generate renewable energy?\u00a0<\/span>Dr. Cary L. Pint<\/span><\/a>, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Vanderbilt University, has the answer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pint and his team of graduate students have <\/span>created<\/span><\/a> a prototype energy harvesting device that\u2019s small enough and thin enough to be sewn into existing textiles and fabrics without any impact on the comfort or aesthetic of the clothing. The device is made entirely of black phosphorus, and generates electricity whenever it is bent, pressed on, or vibrated. If one were to imbed this device in an article of clothing, the wearer\u2019s every action — walking, typing, high-fiving — would produce electricity. The total power output of this prototype device is enough to power a small LCD screen. The device is so lightweight that one wouldn\u2019t even be able to tell it was a part of their apparel. <\/span><\/p>\n

This prototype device can harvest energy at frequencies less than 10 hertz (the standard electrical frequency range of human movement). Part of the importance of this prototype device, and what has hindered the development of this kind of technology, is that it is notoriously difficult to harvest energy at frequencies of less than 100 hertz.<\/span><\/p>\n

The technology was inspired by Pint\u2019s study of the effects of compression, extension, and contortion of battery materials like lithium. This research, which showed that the voltage of a battery will increase when the battery is under physical tension and decrease when it is under pressure, demonstrates that small amounts of kinetic energy could be converted into electricity by certain materials. In a sense, this prototype energy harvester operates much like a battery, but instead of generating electricity via chemical reactions or storing electricity from another source, it converts motion into electricity.<\/span><\/p>\n

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