Interesting Article from the Economist concerning nano particles4 Sep 2021 08:50
Power walking: electricity from floorboards
The smart buildings of the future could contain touch-sensitive walls, light-filtering windows and super-insulation. According to research in Matter, a scientific journal, their floors might also serve as electrical generators. Engineers have adapted ordinary wooden planks to produce power as people walk on them.
The design is simple: two layers of spruce wood are sandwiched between metal conductors. But ordinary wood, when flexed underfoot, generates little power. To get some voltage going, the engineers coated one of the wooden panels with negatively charged silicone film. In the other they embedded positively charged nano-crystals. An adult stepping on the doctored panel generated 80 times more output than somebody stepping on ordinary wood, enough to fuel LED lamps. Using thinner layers of wood would make the device even more efficient. If a larger prototype proves viable, inhabitants of smart buildings could one day tap into a power source right beneath their feet.
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