Imagine if the humidity in the air can enhance your smartphone or laptop. This may soon become a reality! Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found that water droplets jumping from highly repulsive surfaces can be harnessed to generate electricity and may one day be used in power electronics.
Last year, researchers found that when water droplets spontaneously jumped away from condensation on a superhydrophobic surface, they could be charged. Now, the same team has proven that this process can generate a small amount of electricity that may be used in power electronics. The methods developed by MIT project leaders Evelyn Wang and Nenad and their colleagues may lead to devices that use only wet-charging mobile phones or other electronic devices in the air. As an added benefit, the system can also produce clean water.
Nenad said that the device itself can be simple, consisting of a series of staggered flat metal plates. He said that although his initial tests involved copper plates, any conductive metal would do, including cheaper aluminum. In the initial test, electricity production was minimal - only 15 microwatts per square centimeter of metal plate. However, the process described by Nenad can be easily adjusted to achieve at least 1 microwatt per square centimeter.
Nenad said that in actual devices, metal plates, just like the two arrays in the radiator fins, will stagger and make them all very close but not in contact. The system will operate passively with no moving parts. For remote, automatic ambient sensor power supplies, even a small amount of energy may be sufficient; the form of dew will be able to produce power for several hours.
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