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We can power mobile devices with simple movements
William Atkins
Monday, 27 June 2011 22:30
For the first time, Australian researchers have been able to control the generation of voltage and current within piezoelectric thin films by applying pressure to a device.
Piezoelectricity is the charge that accumulates in materials, such as thin film, when mechanical pressure (stress) is applied to it.
Such an accomplishment could lead, for example, to a self-powered laptop, by typing onto the unit, or mobile phone, by connecting a user's shoes to a device and simply walking.
The article's title is 'Energy Materials: Nanoscale Characterization of Energy Generation from Piezoelectric Thin Films' (10.1002/adfm.201190041, volume 21, issue 12, page 2165, June 21, 2011).
It was published online on June 16, 2011, in the journal Advanced Functional Matter by Drs. Madhu Bhaskaran, Sharath Sriram, Simon Ruffell, and Arnan Mitchell.
These Australian researchers are all associated with the Microplatforms Research Group and Platform Technologies, Research Institute, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Dr. Bhaskaran, the lead researcher in the study, stated, "Our research shows piezoelectrics could even be used to convert blood pressure into a power source for pacemakers - essentially creating an everlasting battery. Our study focused on thin film coatings because we believe they hold the only practical possibility of integrating piezoelectrics into existing electronic technology." [New Electronics: 'Thin film piezoelectrics make power while you work']
The Australian researchers accomplished the measuring of the electricity generated from the application of pressure onto a device with the use of a nanoindenter tip, in a process called nanoindentation.
Nanoindentation is a procedure in which a known hardness is used as the base to identify the hardness of different materials.
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