Cotton T-shirts May One Day Double As Cellphone Chargers - USC Engineers
Cotton has more to its fabric than meets the eye. Two engineers at the University of South Carolina have proved through their research that a simple cotton T-shirt, when modified, can act as a super-capacitor and store electrical charge. The team is led by Xiaodong Li, a professor of mechanical engineering.
Li and his colleagues, used a T-shirt bought from a local store to soak  in a fluoride solution, consequently baking it at a high temperature in an oxygen-free oven. The resulting fibers were converted from cellulose to activated carbon allowing it to store electrical charge.
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The motivation behind Li's research is to provide portable charging solution for portable electronic devices. Activated carbon textile acts like a super-capacitor owing to the particularly high energy storage densities. The "secret ingredient" behind their successful implementation was manganese oxide. A nanometer layer of manganese oxide over the shirt's fibers magnified the material’s electricity-storing ability. The product is a highly capable and stable super-capacitor.
The method used to achieve the fabric capacitor is inexpensive and green. The chemicals used in the research are completely harmless to the environment. This research paves way for simple and clever solutions to charge electronics exempting the hassle of carrying bulky adapters and chargers.
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Li and his colleagues, used a T-shirt bought from a local store to soak  in a fluoride solution, consequently baking it at a high temperature in an oxygen-free oven. The resulting fibers were converted from cellulose to activated carbon allowing it to store electrical charge.
#-Link-Snipped-#
The motivation behind Li's research is to provide portable charging solution for portable electronic devices. Activated carbon textile acts like a super-capacitor owing to the particularly high energy storage densities. The "secret ingredient" behind their successful implementation was manganese oxide. A nanometer layer of manganese oxide over the shirt's fibers magnified the material’s electricity-storing ability. The product is a highly capable and stable super-capacitor.
The method used to achieve the fabric capacitor is inexpensive and green. The chemicals used in the research are completely harmless to the environment. This research paves way for simple and clever solutions to charge electronics exempting the hassle of carrying bulky adapters and chargers.
Source: #-Link-Snipped-#
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