Scientists Create ‘Supercapacitor’ T-Shirts That Could Someday Charge Your Cellphone
- Posted on July 11, 2012 at 8:23pm by
Liz Klimas
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Xiaodong Li in the foreground helped lay a foundation for a cotton material that could hold a wearable electric charge to someday power devices. (Image: University of South Carolina)
Last week, we saw a new piece of technology that could turn a whole wall into a power source thanks to a new spray-on battery technique. Now, researchers from the University of South Carolina have announced development of a plain cotton T-shirt into something with a wearable electric charge.
The idea for creating “electrical” clothing for professor of mechanical engineering Xiaodong Li, stemmed from the idea that phones were once limited to households, then moved to cars and later into pockets.
“We wear fabric every day,” said Li on the university website. “One day our cotton T-shirts could have more functions; for example, a flexible energy storage device that could charge your cell phone or your iPad.”
Here’s how Li and post-doctoral associate Lihong Bao have already taken steps to show how this function is possible:
Starting with a T-shirt from a local discount store, Li’s team soaked it in a solution of fluoride, dried it and baked it at high temperature. They excluded oxygen in the oven to prevent the material from charring or simply combusting.
The surfaces of the resulting fibers in the fabric were shown by infrared spectroscopy to have been converted from cellulose to activated carbon. Yet the material retained flexibility; it could be folded without breaking.
The once-cotton T-shirt proved to be a repository for electricity. By using small swatches of the fabric as an electrode, the researchers showed that the flexible material, which Li’s team terms activated carbon textile, acts as a capacitor. Capacitors are components of nearly every electronic device on the market, and they have the ability to store electrical charge.
Optical photograph of (a) a commercial cotton T-shirt (b) a piece of ACT (activated carbon textiles) and (c) a piece of ACT under folding condition, showing its highly flexible nature. (d) and (e) SEM (scanning electron microscope) images of cotton T-shirt textile and ACT, and insets are SEM images of individual cellulose fiber and activated carbon fiber, respectively. (Image and figure text: Advanced Materials/ Lihong Bao, Xiaodong Li)
From there, the researchers used “nanostructured manganese oxide” on the fabric, which Li said created “a stable, high-performing supercapacitor.”
In addition to being successful at holding a charge with the potential for powering devices, Li said the process was inexpensive and environmentally friendly.
The research was published in the journal Advanced Materials.
(H/T: BBC)
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kitt1288
Posted on July 13, 2012 at 3:02pmSo if Flouride does this to a t-shirt, what is it doing to us? I mean it is in the water and we are consuming it….makes one wonder.
Report Post »drphil69
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 1:14pmMaybe Chris Matthews had pants made of this material? He seems to get ‘thrills up his leg’ often!
Report Post »Lothmar
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 12:50pmThis is a step towards the body suit that stores energy converted from body heat and other energy produced by the human body such as friction from movement etc. Once they figure out how to transfer energy through the open air/network so the people dont have to be plugged in all the time the citizens become batteries. Or worse, it’s like the matrix where you are plugged in all the time to support/ power the state… oh wait.
Report Post »G-WHIZ
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 1:01pmSoooo…y‘a put it under y’o hot suit an‘ ya’a swweats a li’l too much…[SNAP! BANG! SSSSSSiiissle- Z A A P P!] ! Great fo‘ remoovin’da hair offa yo’ chest an armpitts!
Report Post »OniKaze
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 12:48pmSo what would happen if it rained?? Any potential shock hazard? If signal is below 12V then I doubt it would be a problem as your skin puts up more resistance than 12V can penetrate (even at 10,000Amps, I know this from personal experience) so I guess I would like to know what the shirt would be rated for….
Report Post »Lothmar
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 12:45pmDont taze me bro, ~clothing absorbs shock~ told you it wouldnt work… Wait where are you aiming? ~Tazes exposed body this time~
Report Post »Conservative-Atheist
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 12:35pmHmmm…somehow I think this could be used to power a tiny butt area spark activated by flatulence thus taking advantage of the unlimited heating capacity of the blue flame…just a thought.
Report Post »Eric_The_Red_State
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 11:29amObama = Free Stuff
Romney = Free Market
Report Post »G-WHIZ
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 12:56pmO’bama…we give you a few free eggs(once!)! Lookie–lookie!!
Report Post »Romney…..We give you a low-intrest-loan to by the chicken…Lookie–lookie! EGGS for many years, and for many new chickens(from these eggs…duh!)!!
nappy
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 10:35amOH.. and it could ONLY charge anything if it were actually connected to power long enough to store a charge. So.. we’re going to walk around with charged clothing just in case our iPads die? You thought you had a problem with static electricity?
Report Post »G-WHIZ
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 1:05pmOooh! Im-soooo a deemocrat…OOOh dat Obammy jus gives me that timgle-down my fully-charged trouser-leg. OOOPS!!….ZZZZAAAAAAAP!! NOW THATS-A TINGLE!!
Report Post »nappy
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 10:33amduh.. brilliant.. only one problem.. almost NO ONE has a problem keeping their cell phones charged. You see.. we have this thing called ELECTRICITY and it runs through all of our homes and workplaces! AMAZING EH? And guess what.. if THAT stops.. you aren’t gonna need your cell phone.
Where do I sign up for a job like this?
Report Post »termyt
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 9:26amWhat happens if it gets wet?
Report Post »RedManBlueState
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 11:46amYou die by electrocution.
Report Post »battles
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 7:35amPossible problems:
Report Post »Cause an airport screening machine to zap the wearer with a lightening bolt.
Cause every implanted heart defibulator within 50 feet to trigger.
Cause an aircrafts instruments to go berserk.
Cause every burglar alarm you drive past to go off.
Meyvn
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 7:29amI don’t need a cellphone, so why do I need such a shirt?
Report Post »termyt
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 9:28amWhat? Is this Meyvn.com now? Did they forget to run this story by you first to make sure it was of interest to you before posting? Come on Blaze – you know if the story doesn’t matter to Meyvn, it must not be posted here!
Report Post »Tractorboy
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 9:34amI too do not have a cell phone. These new shirts are for the grown children living in their mothers basements, when they do all that rubbing and fidgeting on their moms couch it sucks up that static charge in the couch and helps to offset the electric they use, I do wonder if this could cause the Cheeto dust to ignite?
Report Post »Bill923
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 6:29amNo, this couldn’t possibly cause cancer.
Report Post »grannyrecipe
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 5:30amDoes life really have to be that easy and convenient?
Report Post »KyleD
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 5:04amCapacitors are dangerous…I’d have to be very confident in the construction of this shirt in order to wear one.
Report Post »OhioRifleman
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 11:46amNo liquid in this capacitor. It’s not likely to blow on you.
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on July 12, 2012 at 1:46amWARNING: Humans have an ElectroChemical System that produces a Body Field… which some people claim can be seen as an Aura. Re. Einstein, Unified Field Theory: Fields can Unify, and in Unity become Altered.
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