Power-generating rubber material could harness walking and other movement to charge electronic devices.
Researchers at Princeton University have recently invented a new energy-harvesting rubber material composed of ceramic nanoribbons that could harvest energy from your breathing and walking.
This material is composed of ceramic nanoribbons embedded onto silicone rubber sheets which generates electricity when flexed and is highly efficient at converting mechanical energy to electrical energy.
Harvesting and storing energy is a big challenge today. From cellphones and laptops to a growing number of portable music and camera devices, electricity and battery life has become essential for much of today’s business activities. The trouble is that batteries cannot deliver the kind of longevity needed for people who want to move about plug-free.
The research is still in its early stages but the researchers have been able to fabricate nanoribbons in such a way that a 100 of them can be positioned side by side in a space of a millimeter.
These ribbons are then embedded into clear sheets of silicon rubber that are biocompatible.
These new electricity-harvesting devices could be implanted in the body to perpetually power medical devices and the body wouldn’t reject them .Placed against the lungs this could use breathing motions to power pacemakers or other medical devices.
This technology could also be used in shoes to harvest the energy from walking and running to power mobile and electrical devices.
For more information please visit:
http://ecubedventures.com/E-Cubed_Ventures
http://www.princeton.edu
