Cell phones have become indispensible in the last decade or so. Cheap prices along with a wide range of choices have resulted in almost everyone having a cellphone. But even though life has become a lot easier thanks to this device, people nowadays have to face a new challenge, the challenge of keeping their phones adequately charged.
Though charging is a fairly while at work or at home, it becomes difficult when people are outdoors, i.e. away from power outlets. Even though power banks have solved this dilemma to some extent, they still have certain flaws regarding their affordability/availability.
Thus it is clearly seen that there is a need of a device which can easily charge cellphones by harnessing something which is naturally available or something which is not directly related to a power source. Water covers more than 2/3rds of our planet’s surface & is present in abundance in our surroundings & it would be amazing if a device can be invented which could utilize this abundance & harness power from it to run our cellphones. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.) have helped mankind realize this dream.
Mechanism: -
Researchers namely, Nenad Miljkovic and Evelyn Wang have come across the fact that when water drops jump spontaneously while coming in contact with super-hydrophobic (water repelling) surfaces, during condensation, they carry an electric charge.
They also stated that a device consisting of interleaved plates can be created to utilize this fact to power cellphones. As water droplets will jump, they will come in contact with one plate & another carrying their charge.
This chare can be harnessed as power by constructing an external circuit across the said plates. The device can be made of any conducting material, even something as cheap & abundant as aluminium, thus potentially reducing its cost. Another perk of this system is that it can also produce clean water.
In humid environments, this device can simply harness power from the surrounding atmosphere provided that a temperature difference exists between the surroundings & the device for condensation to take place.
Even though the process will be time consuming, it is a boon for people who have to operate in remote areas where conventional power sources are difficult to come across. It can also be use to power remote, automated environment sensors.
Implications: -
Once a producible version of this device is available, a huge part of energy crisis will be solved also as people will no longer have to depend on fossil-fuel generated electricity. The energy harnessed will be clean, cheap & virtually infinite in terms of amount & availability.
Pollution issues will be solved to some extent as well. Clean water, another compelling requirement in today’s world can be generated as well thanks to this device.
People will be tension free when it comes to keeping their cell phones powered 24*7. Thus, once again technology comes to the rescue to rid mankind of misery & improve the quality of life.
