Researchers have devised a way to generate electricity from air moisture using a device that can be made from almost any material.

Patrol Advanced MaterialsThe researchers cite that the new design can harvest electricity from water droplets dispersed in the air for longer periods of time than previous technologies allowed. .

Recent efforts to generate electricity from wind

Air contains varying amounts of moisture, which are particles of water vapor collected in very small droplets, and these droplets carry very small electric charges at their edges, which, if placed in certain locations, can be used to produce lightning bolts with very high electrical charges. Climatic conditions.

Although this phenomenon is not new, until recently scientists were not interested in exploring the potential of harnessing this latent energy in the air to generate clean energy.

The researchers came to this discovery by creating imbalances in the electrical charges of water droplets in moist air using special devices.

In 2020, a team of researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst developed a device called Air-Gen to generate energy using protein nanowires made by Geobacter bacteria. This device helps generate electricity from moisture in the air.

And in 2022, he managed Australian researchers From developing a new technology that relies on ambient moisture – such as sweat produced by the human body – to generate electricity using graphene oxide.

However, these technologies require expensive materials to produce and only work for short periods of time, presenting practical challenges for efficiency and large-scale application.

A promising technology for generating energy from air humidity

One inside A new studyA team of researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has developed AirGen technology, using all known materials to generate electricity from air, without the need for protein nanowires.

According to Press release Published on the university’s website on May 23, 2023, the device consists of two thin layers of the same material, topped with very tiny holes of less than 100 nanometers in diameter, a thousand times smaller in diameter. A human hair.

At this scale, the pores are large enough to allow water to flow from top to bottom, but small enough for water droplets to contact the material as they move down through the pores. This results in an imbalance in the electrical charges on the device, as the water droplets touch the upper layer as they travel down, increasing its charge.

Test results show the microscope can produce continuous power equivalent to several hundred millivolts for a week-long test period, much longer than previous techniques that lasted more than 48 hours.

The researchers confirm that this energy can be doubled by stacking a large number of layers vertically forming the device, making it competitive with other renewable energy sources such as solar power and wind power. such as solar panels and can be designed into various shapes and precisely blended with the rest of the environmental components.

The researchers expect this new technology to have many promising applications in the field of microelectronics and powering wearable devices.