Push for Power

Walk, run, wave to a friend or have a boogie in your chair – every time you move you’re expending energy that gets lost into the environment. But what if that energy could be harvested and used to power electronic devices? This clever device is a tiny charger that captures energy from movement – such as being bent or pressed – and converts it into electricity. It’s made from nano-scale layers of a chemical called phosphorene (also known as black phosphorus) which generate a tiny voltage when put under physical strain as charged molecules (ions) get shuttled around inside the layered structure. These devices are thinner, more flexible and better at harnessing energy from walking motions than previous similar inventions. Although the amount of electricity they generate is very small it could still be enough to charge medical implants or monitors, so you won’t be able to charge your phone any time soon!

Written by Kat Arney

Kat Arney

Writer

Dr Kat Arney is an award-winning science writer, broadcaster and public speaker, and is the founder and Creative Director of First Create The Media.

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• Image from work by Nitin Muralidharan and Mengya Li, and colleagues
• Department of Mechanical Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
• Image originally published under an American Chemical Society AuthorChoice Licence
• Research published in ACS Energy Letters, July 2017