Fabric patch on wrist generates power to charge cellphones

19 Mar '15

2 min read

According to a new study by Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea, a foldable patch of fabric wrapped around a wrist can gather enough energy from movement to power small electronic devices.

“Researchers say this opens the door to clothing that can charge smart watches and cellphones while the wearer moves or walks around,” Discovery News reported.

The new fabric relies on what is called the triboelectric effect, which happens when certain materials become electrically charged after coming into contact through friction with a different material.

Due to this, electrons are transferred from one material to the other, causing one material to build up a negative charge, while the other gets a positive charge.

Researchers at the University created a double-layer fabric out of silver-coated woven textile, with one layer made with a plain silver-coated textile.

“For the other layer, the team grew 100-nm-wide zinc oxide nanorods on the woven textile fibres and coated the rods with polydimethylsiloxane and stacked four triboelectric generators to increase the power output,” Discovery added.

Scientists in a demonstration attached the generator on a jacket sleeve and embedded six LEDS, a small liquid-crystal display and a keyless car remote control in the jacket.

When the wearer moved his arms or wrist, the fabric turned each gadget on one at a time.

The scientists are testing more materials for the generator that could yield even more energy, as well as textile-based batteries and super capacitors to store energy from the generators. (AR)

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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