New Type
of Energy Charging, Micro-Cable Power Textile
Nowadays, people use more and more
electronic gadgets in their everyday lives. Everyone use at least more than one
electronic device, such as smartphone, smart watch or tablet PCs. As a result,
they got the need for the charging devices as well and many charging devices
have also been invented. Many people take battery charger cables with them when
they go out. Some people even use portable batteries. These are all very
convenient, but what if you don’t need to carry any of them to charge your
smartphone anywhere at any time? Scientists in China and the United States have
created a new type of fabric, the micro-cable power textile, which can produce
electricity.
The core principle of the new textile is integrating
two materials. The team of researchers at the Georgia Tech School of Materials
Science and Engineering, led by professor Zhong Lin Wang, has integrated a polymer-fiber-based
solar cell in fabricating a triboelectric nanogenerator to make the new type of
fabric. The light and mechanical energy could be harvested simultaneously by
the combination of photoanodes, the solar cells made from lightweight polymer
fibers, and TENG, the triboelectric nanogenerator. Georgia Tech says that the micro-cable
power textile has a single-layer interlaced structure, which is a mixture of
two polymer-wire-based energy harvesters, including both a fabric TENG to
convert mechanical movement into electricity and a photovoltaic textile to
gather power from ambient sunlight. They attached a piece of fabric about the
size of a standard sheet of paper to a rod, similar to a flag. Then they blew the
textile flag in the wind with cars driven with the windows open, which
generated considerable power even on cloudy days. Under natural daylight with
mechanical excitation, the textile can generate sufficient power for various
electrical equipment, such as smartphone or electronic watch. The researchers
measured the textile can charge a 2mF commercial capacitor up to 2 V in 1 min.
The micro-cable power textile has many
benefits. According to Wang, the fabric is highly flexible, breathable, light
weight and adaptable to a range of uses. This textile can be the easiest one to
carry than any other portable batteries or chargers. As the power generating function
can be equipped on the clothes by fabricating special textiles in them, people
do not have to carry but just wear the functional clothing. As it looks just
like other normal clothing, it does not appear to be different from other
pieces of clothing. It is also inexpensive. As the power generating textile is based
on polymer fibers, it is suitable for large-scale manufacturing. The polymer fibers,
the main material to manufacture the hybrid power textile, are commonly-used
material and inexpensive. Also, the invention can be manufactured through
low-cost processes. This means people will be able to use this knew charging technology
conveniently with not much money. The other benefit of this textile is that it
is eco-friendly. The fabric is made from environmentally responsible materials.
The main material of the invention, polymer fiber, is one of the environmentally
friendly material. By using this material, the textile can also be environmentally
friendly. Moreover, this textile is the technology of generating power without pollution.
The power is limited to amount of charging our portable gadgets just yet, but
the researchers are still working on improving the durability and capacity. This
might lead us to get electricity for bigger devices without thermal power plant
or nuclear power plant in the future.
The scientists at Georgia Tech has
developed a portable, low-cost, and eco-friendly hybrid textile which can
generate electricity, by combining polymer-fiber-based solar cell with a triboelectric
nanogenerator. With this invention, we can charge our smartphones anywhere at any
time without carrying necessities. As this technology is low-cost and easy to
make electricity, probably people in developing countries would also get great
help for their livings. This kind of simple-looking invention might help millions
of people all over the world and the environment.
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