Nanowires Allow For Electricity-Generating Clothing

lee1 writes "The latest development in the field of 'energy harvesting', which includes such opportunistic technology such as self-winding watches, generators implanted in soldier's boots, and knee brace dynamos, is a cloth that generates electrical power. The cloth is newly developed by scientists in the US, and can produce up to 80 milliwatts per square metre. It is made from brush-like fibres composed of a Kevlar stalk surrounded by zinc oxide nanowire crystals that generate electricity through the piezoelectric effect. They can be grown on any substrate, including hair. The power harnessed from this effect could be used for anything from cosmetic components to the powering of medical devices."

Comments

What about...

[TubeSteak]

Can it be grown on sharks?
/to power the frickin' laser beams

is that the same "up to" my ISP uses?

[petes_PoV]

up to 80 milliwatts ...

Up to 10Mbit/s download speeds

So how much power is that in practice? 5mW PSM? maybe 10 if you're an athlete?

I think I'll stick to batteries, thanks

Don't hug me bro!

[barocco]

Don't hug me bro!

Their first attempts were a complete failure

[Anonymous Coward]

The nanowire bath towels were a shocking failure.

Proper marketing will be needed to overcome consumer resistance.

forgive my ignorance

[Bandman]

Wouldn't harnessing this energy make the material harder to move in?

Re:forgive my ignorance

[KublaiKhan]

Not necessarily. You waste a lot of energy moving your clothing around as-is; the fabric would likely be a little stiffer, but that's probably about it--they're not making the whole thing out of kevlar, apparently.

Re:forgive my ignorance

[orclevegam]

Wouldn't harnessing this energy make the material harder to move in? Actually, in the case of the knee-brace generator it makes it easier to move. The knee-brace has a clutch mechanism that only engages on the absorption portion of the step (when your knee is flexing to absorb the impact and transfer your weight) so the resistance of the brace actually helps your legs absorb the impact of stepping. The only problem with the current model is that it's rather bulky and heavy so until it's made lighter it makes it harder to move just from the weight of it. There are lots of ways this could be used to actually improve efficiency (much like active-braking generators in cars) rather than decrease it. Remember, all friction heat and to a lesser extent gravity (falling down a gravity well) is wasted energy, recapturing as much as possible helps cut down on entropy.

Re:forgive my ignorance

[Hillgiant]

Dude! Just how fat are you to be able to power your TV with 80 milliWatts per m^2?

What we really need...

[Anonymous Coward]

... is a way to generate electricity by masturbation. I could probably power my data center... and maybe yours too!

Nano-generation Decision Point

[Phoenix666]

Self-winding watches are great, because you don't have to do any extra work to wind them; they wind themselves according to the work you already do raising and lowering your arm (weight of the watch notwithstanding). Knee braces and such, though, break that model, because you have to do more physical work to generate the power.

There is a lot of passive mechanical energy in our environment that can be harvested to generate power. But it has to make economical sense. If you can coat your house in nano piezoelectric filaments that generate twice the current that they cost, then good. Otherwise, why bother?

Re:Nano-generation Decision Point

[Ephemeriis]

Why bother? Because cost doesn't seem to be an issue with the ecofriendly crowd that want alternative energy in use. If it costs 5 cents per kilowatt over 10 years or $5.00, it doesn't matter because they said it needs to happen and you will pay for it anyways if it is the only thing available.

And if there are people too cheap to pay the extra, then demonize them, complain and cause the cost of regular energy to increase to a point there is a trade off with regulations and such then get mad at the government for a failing economy when energy costs are sucking all the extra money out of it.

I strongly suspect this is less about "green" energy than it is generating energy in out-of-the-way places. The knee brace article mentions soldiers using it to charge/power their equipment in the field - where they'd typically be carrying around piles of batteries, or solar cells, or hauling around a generator. Being able to generate some electricity from simply walking sounds like a pretty nice trade-off. Similarly if you could make the soldier's uniforms out of this material, or make tents out of it, you could again reduce all the batteries and crap that they have to carry around.

Or you could use these technologies in camping/hiking gear. Charge up your phone/laptop/radio while simply walking through the countryside.

Or they could be used to create tech-friendly apparel. A jacket, perhaps, that keeps your iPod charged up at all times.

Or they could be used to supply power where the local infrastructure is damaged or outright missing. Throw up some tents/shelters made out of this cloth and generate electricity for lighting.

Or maybe something to throw into a survival kit. A little radio beacon sending out a constant SOS that's powered by your movement, or the clothes you wear.

I mean, there are literally tons of non-green reasons to look into technology like this. It may never be an economically viable way to generate large-scale electricity... You may never power your house with it... But there are also plenty of places/situations where economics are not the most important factor.

Grown on hair?

[LaRoach]

They can be grown on any substrate, including hair

Then my back is gonna run the whole house!

How silly

[hyc]

They should just weave this stuff in with silk or wool and channel off the electricity from static buildup. Simple.

An interesting application

[Charcharodon]

Make the bed sheets out of them....

"Damn it woman, leave me alone and go to sleep. Don't give me that "my iPod needs charging", I already checked it, it's full.

Alarm Sensors

[sciop101]

This would make outstanding surface alarm matrix.

Woven into carpet, or embedded into a concrete/asphalt surface, with proper processing, this system could discriminate footsteps, vehicles, even seismic activity.