Twistronic Yarns Harvest Energy from Movement

spectrum.ieee.org

40 points·rbanffy··7 comments

What is the resilience of these things like? Currently, and potentially? Sounds like a really cool technology, but if your self-illuminating running trousers only last ten minutes, or can't be washed, not actually very useful.

> Currently, and potentially

Haha.

Another aspect related to resilience - is there any environmental danger from these things shedding? If carbon nano-fibers get in your lungs, that can't be good right?

22.4 % efficiency?! This is crazy good. One very immediate solution: glowing clothes for safety. Roadside dog walkers joggers and bicyclists can be seen a lot easier. And you don't need to mess with batteries so much anymore.

How about building a pole which is recursively split into smaller and smaller poles in a fractal structure, with thousands of little sheets of this material attached at the ends of the smallest poles, generating electricity from the wind?

One could even consider coating the top surface of the sheets with a flexible photoelectric material to generate additional electricity from the sun.

In a building, you could have a cheap concrete pole providing the compression strength and then a lot of these yarns providing the sway support, also generating electricity on the side.

They mention applications in water, but I wonder what a flag made of this material might generate...

They mentioned they are currently developing twistrons made from other materials. They state that the current material, carbon nanotubes, are too expensive for large scale applications.

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