Tapping into kinetic energy (Image: tempurasLightbulb/iStock)
SHEETS of material that produce voltage when flexed could generate power from the motion of the human body.
Previous materials were either too rigid or too inefficient to be practical as pliable power generators. Now two research teams have solved the problem using different approaches. The materials could allow future medical implants to harvest their own power, by using the pulsing of arteries, for example.
Yi Qi and of Princeton University developed a way to soften up the usually inflexible crystal lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT), which is one of the most efficient piezoelectric…
