“The #UMass Amherst team were surprised to find that the device, which comprised an array of microscopic tubes, or #nanowires, was producing an electrical signal regardless.

Each nanowire was less than one-thousandth the diameter of a human hair, wide enough that an airborne water molecule could enter, but so narrow it would bump around inside the tube. Each bump, the team realised, lent the material a small #charge, and as the frequency of bumps increased, one end of the tube became differently charged from the other. ‘So it’s really like a battery,’”

#HygroElectricity / #power / #signals / #nanowires / #MetaMaterials / #uap
<https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jul/02/it-was-an-accident-the-scientists-who-have-turned-humid-air-into-renewable-power>

“The #UMass Amherst team were surprised to find that the device, which comprised an array of microscopic tubes, or #nanowires, was producing an electrical signal regardless.

Each nanowire was less than one-thousandth the diameter of a human hair, wide enough that an airborne water molecule could enter, but so narrow it would bump around inside the tube. Each bump, the team realised, lent the material a small #charge, and as the frequency of bumps increased, one end of the tube became differently charged from the other. ‘So it’s really like a battery,’”

#HygroElectricity / #power / #signals / #nanowires / #MetaMaterials /#uap
<https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jul/02/it-was-an-accident-the-scientists-who-have-turned-humid-air-into-renewable-power>

“The #UMass Amherst team were surprised to find that the device, which comprised an array of microscopic tubes, or #nanowires, was producing an electrical signal regardless.

Each nanowire was less than one-thousandth the diameter of a human hair, wide enough that an airborne water molecule could enter, but so narrow it would bump around inside the tube. Each bump, the team realised, lent the material a small #charge, and as the frequency of bumps increased, one end of the tube became differently charged from the other. ‘So it’s really like a battery,’”

#HygroElectricity / #power / #signals / #nanowires / #MetaMaterials
<https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jul/02/it-was-an-accident-the-scientists-who-have-turned-humid-air-into-renewable-power>

"Unlike solar or wind, #hygroelectric generators could work day and night, indoors and out, and in many places."
#RenewableEnergy #HygroElectricity

‘It was an accident’: the scientists who have turned humid air into renewable power | #Science | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jul/02/it-was-an-accident-the-scientists-who-have-turned-humid-air-into-renewable-power

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jul/02/it-was-an-accident-the-scientists-who-have-turned-humid-air-into-renewable-power | ‘It was an accident’: the scientists who have turned humid air into renewable power |

[...] "“Even though a thin sheet of the device gives out a very tiny amount of electricity or power, in principle, we can stack multiple layers in vertical space to increase the power.”" | #energy #technology #hygroelectricity

The rise of hygroelectricity: Perfecting the conversion of atmospheric humidity into electricity https://innovationtoronto.com/2022/12/the-rise-of-hygroelectricity-perfecting-the-conversion-of-atmospheric-humidity-into-electricity/

#hygroelectricity

RT @HorizonMagEU@twitter.com

#Hygroelectricity that converts atmospheric humidity into electricity could help Europe shift away from fossil fuels.

Let’s find out ➡️ http://bit.ly/3hudPZt

#HorizonEU

🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/HorizonMagEU/status/1604825983869140992