generate electricity tagged posts

DGIST research teams have developed a self-powered sensor that uses motion and pressure to generate electricity and light simultaneously. This battery-free technology is expected to be used in various real-life applications, such as disaster rescue, sports, and wearable devices.

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) and mechanoluminescence (ML) have attracted attention as green energy technologies that can generate electricity and light, respectively, without external power. However, researchers in previous studies mainly focused on the two technologies separately or simply combined them. Moreover, the power output stability of TENG and the insufficient luminous duration of ML materials have been major limitations for practical applications.

New research conducted by scientists at Caltech and Northwestern University shows that thin films of rust – iron oxide – can generate electricity when saltwater flows over them. These films represent an entirely new way of generating electricity and could be used to develop new forms of sustainable power production.

Interactions between metal compounds and saltwater often generate electricity, but this is usually the result of a chemical reaction in which one or more compounds are converted to new compounds. Reactions like these are what is at work inside batteries.

In contrast, the phenomenon discovered by Tom Miller, Caltech professor of chemistry, and Franz Geiger, Dow Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern, does not...

This is a sketch of the experiment. Credit: HZB

Thermoelectric materials can use thermal differences to generate electricity. Now there is an inexpensive and environmentally friendly way of producing them with the simplest of components: a normal pencil, photocopy paper, and conductive paint are sufficient to convert a temperature difference into electricity via the thermoelectric effect. Thermoelectric materials need to have low thermal conductivity despite their high electrical conductivity. Thermoelectric devices made of inorganic semiconductor materials such as bismuth telluride are already being used today in certain technological applications. However, such material systems are expensive and their use only pays off in certain situations...

The first crop of tomatoes and cucumbers grown inside electricity-generating solar greenhouses was as healthy and robust as those raised in conventional greenhouses, signaling that “smart” greenhouses hold great promise for farming and energy conservation.

Magenta panes also help plants save water. The first crops of tomatoes and cucumbers grown inside electricity-generating solar greenhouses were as healthy as those raised in conventional greenhouses, signaling that “smart” greenhouses hold great promise for dual-use farming and renewable electricity production...