Michigan researchers have revealed a major breakthrough in harvesting energy from human motion. 

 

密歇根的研究人员取得了一项重大突破, 可从人体动作中收集能量。

 

They say it could lead to smartphones powered for a week by the motion of a swipe being harvested. 

 

Michigan State University's low-cost device, known as a nanogenerator, has already been tested. 

 

Scientists successfully operated an LCD touch screen, a bank of 20 LED lights and a flexible keyboard, all with a simple touching¹ or pressing motion and without the aid of a battery. 

 

The groundbreaking findings, published in the journal Nano Energy, suggest 'we're on the path toward wearable devices powered by human motion,' said Nelson Sepulveda, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and lead investigator² of the project. 

 

'What I foresee, relatively³ soon, is the capability⁴ of not having to charge your cell phone for an entire week, for example, because that energy will be produced by your movement,' said Sepulveda, whose research is funded by the National Science Foundation. 

 

The process starts with a silicone wafer, which is then fabricated with several layers, or thin sheets, of environmentally friendly substances including silver, polyimide and polypropylene ferroelectret. 

 

Ions are added so that each layer in the device contains charged particles. 

 

Electrical energy is created when the device is compressed by human motion, or mechanical energy. 

 

The completed device is called a biocompatible ferroelectret nanogenerator, or FENG, and is as thin as a sheet of paper. 

 

The device used to power the LED lights was palm-sized, for example, while the device used to power the touch screen was as small as a finger. 

 

Advantages such as being lightweight, flexible, biocompatible, scalable, low-cost and robust⁵ could make FENG 'a promising⁶ and alternative method in the field of mechanical-energy harvesting' for many autonomous⁷ electronics such as wireless⁸ headsets, cell phones and other touch-screen devices, the study says.

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