Power is an eternal concern, especially when you turn to the related topic; clean sources of power. There are pros and cons of all current types of power plants. Scientists at Georgia Institute of Technology (picture credit) have now presented a nanogenerator that can use such nimble things as ultrasonic waves, vibrations or blood flow to generate power. Through an array of zinc oxide wires in a zig-zag pattern located close to an electrode this tiny “chip” can act as a generator. Zinc oxide wires namely has a pretty unique property in that it generates a small electric charge when it bends.
By placing the electrode close to the zinc oxide wires it can pick up the charges that are created when the wires bend due to some form of force. Previously they’ve only been able to use a single wire of zinc oxide, but now they’ve managed to create a process where it is possible to grow large amounts of these with only microns between them.
There are researchers in many areas that are looking for ways to power various nano equipment, but haven’t had access to any kind power source of a similar size. Even if this isn’t a ready to be launched product it’s a possibility in the future, even though the researchers say that the process still needs to be optimized for us to be even close to a working mass produced nanogenerator.
