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from the seawater-is-more-than-just-salty-water dept.
There are many ways to generate electricity—batteries, solar panels, wind turbines, and hydroelectric dams, to name a few examples... and now, there's rust.
New research conducted by scientists at Caltech and Northwestern University shows that thin films of rust—iron oxide—can generate electricity when saltwater flows over them. These films represent an entirely new way of generating electricity and could be used to develop new forms of sustainable power production.
Interactions between metal compounds and saltwater often generate electricity, but this is usually the result of a chemical reaction in which one or more compounds are converted to new compounds. Reactions like these are what is at work inside batteries.
In contrast, the phenomenon discovered by Tom Miller, Caltech professor of chemistry, and Franz Geiger, Dow Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern, does not involve chemical reactions, but rather converts the kinetic energy of flowing saltwater into electricity.
https://phys.org/news/2019-07-ultra-thin-layers-rust-electricity.html
More information: Mavis D. Boamah et al. Energy conversion via metal nanolayers, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2019). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1906601116
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Sunday August 04 2019, @03:51AM (1 child)
"I built the bicycle per the instructions". I guess I could say "I built the bicycle divided by the instructions", but it wouldn't make sense.
"Per" is a prepostion, one definition (you can look it up too) is: "by means of".
How about "take one pill per day". Would you say "take one pill divided by day"? Doesn't make sense, does it?
Is that enough to convince you, or do you expect me to google some more?
I don't understand the pedantry here. I need to consult a social psychologist. I've come into boards like this fairly late in the game and some things baffle me. Why all the flame wars and downmodding? It's sad how this could have been a great website.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 05 2019, @03:08PM
For perspective, plates having an area of 10 square meters each would generate a few kilowatts per hour—enough for a standard US home
For perspective, plates having an area of 10 square meters each would generate a few kilowatts by means of hour—enough for a standard US home
Doesn't really work in that context does it?
Maybe you meant the meaning "each"
For perspective, plates having an area of 10 square meters each would generate a few kilowatts each hour—enough for a standard US home
Nope. Although given your apparent disregard of units you probably think that's fine.