Saturday, February 16, 2008

Microfiber Fabric = Electricity

There seems to be a lot of research work that focuses on energy. Two weeks ago I wrote about how silicon nanowires can provide lithium ion batteries ten times more charge. In the US there is another exciting development. According to Yahoo! News US scientists discovered a microfiber fabric that can generate its own electricity. It was estimated that it can generate 80 milliwatts per square meter of fabric. This amount is already sufficient to charge a cell phone battery. The article went on to explain that the fiber-based nanogenerator converts the mechanical movement of the body into electricity.

At first glance, it seems that there would only be small amount of electricity that can be produced by this fabric. However, such capability of generating electricity can be useful for workers who do not have an accessible power outlet. Also, sports enthusiasts can benefit from this technology because there would be no need to carry extra batteries for their phones or flashlights.

It would be an interesting development if the scientists can still improve the power generation capacity of the fabric. If the capacity could be increased then it could be another alternative to petroleum generated electricity. This development can make our country less dependent on petroleum and natural gas for the generation of our electricity.

See: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080213/od_nm/shirt_dc;_ylt=Amsn867g9kOb.iOnn_ODDrrtiBIF

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