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Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

Industrial design researchers at Brunel University London have solved two of the major challenges [phys.org] 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.

Original Submission