Full of black technology! Take a step to light 35 LED lights

The University of Wisconsin-Madison official website recently announced that Wang Xudong, an associate professor of materials at the school, led his team to develop a cheap and simple method to convert the footsteps on the floor into usable electrical energy, thereby transforming the floor. Become a more "green" product. Related research is published in the journal Nano Energy.

The new method uses a common and often discarded material - wood pulp. Wood pulp mainly contains nanofibers composed of wood fibers and is a common component in flooring. These nanofibers are chemically treated to produce an electrical current when combined with untreated nanofibers.

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New materials turn walking power into electrical energy

“The chemically treated nanofiber layer and the untreated nanofiber layer are encapsulated in the cardboard. The two layers of nanofibers have different electrical properties, and the electrons flow from one layer to the other to form Current. The cardboard containing two layers of nano-wood pulp fiber can be integrated into the wooden floor through high-pressure technology.” Wang Xudong said in an interview with the Science and Technology Daily that this technology can be easily integrated into any kind of wooden floor on the market. in.

When two layers of nanofibers are integrated into the floor, they can generate electricity, illuminate the lighting in the house or be used to charge the battery. Wood pulp is extremely cheap, rich in source, recyclable and biodegradable. The wood flooring combined with the new technology will be as affordable as ordinary flooring. There have been reports of materials that use walking to generate electricity, but those materials often use ceramics and metals at relatively high cost.

Wang Xudong said that in addition to the low price, they studied the service life and efficiency of energy collected by nano-wood pulp fibers through experiments. Preliminary tests have shown that new materials can be used millions of times. “We can't translate this number into years to measure the life of the floor, but with proper design modifications, the new material will certainly exceed the floor life.”

The test also proved that 35 LED bulbs can be illuminated at the same time for every step of the electricity generated on the floor containing this new material.

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Roadside energy harvesting technology is sought after

Over the years, the Wang Xudong team has been studying the technology of generating electricity using vibration, testing various materials, and optimizing related technologies called “triboelectric nano-power generation equipment”. The static electricity generated by clothes is a kind of frictional electrification. Many wearable electronic devices use this frictional electrification to obtain electric energy. Wood pulp nanofibers have once again expanded the range of sources that utilize existing mechanical energy.

The research breakthrough of the Wang Xudong team is the latest achievement in the field of green energy research, the roadside energy harvesting technology. “The roadside energy harvesting technology only needs to consider where there is enough energy to collect and use. As long as there is crowd activity, you can consider collecting it.” Wang Xudong said, “One idea is to develop wearable equipment. Another way of thinking is Collecting equipment that is densely populated by local people, such as the floor technology we developed this time.” Gymnasiums, shopping centers, etc., where there are many people, and crowded aisles, installing floors that integrate this new energy harvesting technology can produce considerable Big power. The nanofiber function unit for collecting energy is less than one millimeter thick, so it is possible to implant several layers of such functional units to increase the amount of power generation, and the floor is not significantly thickened after implantation.

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The future is a powerful complement to solar energy

Roadside energy harvesting technology is more competitive than solar energy in some respects. It does not depend on weather conditions, so many researchers believe that it will occupy an important position in the development of renewable energy alternatives to fossil fuels.

But Alistair Sparer, a researcher at the University of New South Wales in Australia, believes that, like existing power generation floors, new materials have no advantage over other green energy sources. “If you want green energy to achieve social benefits, you should look for solar or wind energy. Although new materials are innovative in their ideas, they may not be meaningful.”

Wang Xudong retorted this, the new material is a powerful complement to solar energy. “Our philosophy is to transform the energy that is wasted in life into usable electrical energy. It has the advantage that solar energy cannot be compared, such as underground that can't be exposed to sunlight, or buildings with insufficient sunlight.”

Wang Xudong has applied to the university to set up a new material power generation prototype on campus for publicity and education. They will also continue to optimize their performance.