Breakthrough In Energy Harvesting Technology: Take One Step To Turn On 35 LED Lights

The American University of Wisconsin-Madison official website recently released news that Wang Xudong, associate professor of materials department at the university, led his team to develop a cheap and simple way to convert footsteps on the floor into usable electric energy, Into a more "green" product. Related research published in the "nano-energy" magazine.

The new method uses a common and often discarded material – wood pulp. Wood pulp mainly contains nanofibers of wood fiber, which is a common component in the floor. After chemical treatment of these nanofibers, once combined with untreated nanofibers, a current is generated.

The new material make the walking power into electricity

"The chemically treated nanofibrous layer and the non-chemically treated nanofiber layer are wrapped in cardboard, and the two layers of nanofibers flow from one layer to the other due to their different electrical properties to form Current. Packed with two layers of nano-wood pulp fiber cardboard, high-pressure technology can be integrated into the wood floor. "Wang Xudong told to Science and Technology Daily reporters, this technology can be easily integrated into the market any kind of wood flooring in.

When the two layers of nanofibers are integrated into the floor, they can generate electricity, light the house's lighting, or charge the battery. Wood pulp is extremely cheap, rich in sources, recyclable and biodegradable.  And wood flooring combined with new technologies will be as affordable as ordinary flooring. In the past, there were also reports of materials used to generate electricity by walking, but those materials often used ceramics and metals at a relatively high cost.

Wang Xudong said that it is cheap, and they experimentally studied the useful life and efficiency of nanofiber pulp fibers for energy harvesting. Preliminary tests show that the new material can be used repeatedly millions of times. "We still can not translate this number of years into a measure of how long the floor will last, but with proper design modifications, the new material must exceed the floor life."

The tests also showed that 35 LED lights were lit at the same time for every step of power generation on the floor containing this new material.

Roadside energy harvesting techniques will be popular.

Will be a powerful supplement to solar energy in the feature.