Industrial design researchers at Brunel University London have solved two of the major challenges which prevent everyday items of clothing being turned into power sources for smartphones, tablets and other personal tech.
Technology to produce supercapacitor thread capable of being made into cloth has been around for some time. But until now scientists have been unable to make it provide sufficient voltage for most devices or devise a method to produce it economically outside the lab.
Now patented breakthroughs made by colleagues Professors David Harrison and John Fyson, Dr Yanmeng Xu, Dr Fulian Qiu and Ruirong Zhang of Brunel's Department of Design mean thread capable of storing and supplying enough power for common devices and of being manufactured at industrial scale are a reality.
It seems there could be more fun uses for this than charging iPhones.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Friday December 04 2015, @07:57AM
Now, if we could just make a piezoelectric plastic as a thread and weave clothes with it.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 04 2015, @05:06PM
A shocking proposal!
(Score: 1) by anubi on Sunday December 06 2015, @08:06AM
Could be!
I remember well digging through a surplus bin where I used to work - and upon picking up something that looked about the size of a pack of cigarettes, the nondescript gray/brown block knocked the kerpookie out of me. A round of laughter erupted from my co-workers. I had just picked up a large piezoelectric crystal that was designed for some sort of submarine sonar use, and it had been left out in the sun. Upon heating, it changed dimension and charged. I learned a helluva lot about sonar transducers that day.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]