Scream And Shout, Charge Your Phone Out - Queen Mary University Research
A group of scientists at the Queen Mary University in London has joined hands with Nokia to develop a technology that may enable the cacophony of the traffic noise to charge your mobile phone. Yes, the sound powered charger may be the next cool thing in the tech market where loads of companies are working to find ways of charging devices 'without the wire'. The UK team has made a device about the size of a Nokia Lumia 925 which is coated with 'nanogenerators' which work their magic when exposed to vibrations.
The key to the idea is the Piezoelectric Effect: The substances that exhibit this effect generate voltage when subjected to mechanical stress (such as bending and stretching). The use of piezoelectric effect for charging devices was proposed first in 2010 by a team of Korean scientists. They had used 'nanowires' or 'nanorods' made of zinc oxide and the same material was used by the group from QMUL. These nanorods respond to vibrations arising from sounds, generating electricity. It is harvested by the electrical contacts placed at their ends.
The nanorods were 'cultured' on the plastic sheet by spraying zinc oxide layer over it and then heating it to 90°C. The nanorod layer was then sandwiched between two electrically conducting plates. Usually gold is used as a material of choice for establishing electrical contacts, but the researchers also developed a cost-effective technique utilizing cheap aluminium foil instead of gold.
The prototype was then subjected to normal background noise- traffic, music and also human voice. The device responded by generating 5 Volts, enough to charge a phone battery.
Is the era of plugging phones to sockets coming to an end? Share your views in the comments.
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