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Related: About this forumTeam finds electricity can be generated by dragging saltwater over graphene
http://phys.org/news/2014-04-team-electricity-saltwater-graphene.html(Phys.org) A team of researchers at China's Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, studying graphene properties, has discovered that the act of dragging saltwater over a piece of graphene can generate electricity. In their paper published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, the team describes how in seeking to turn the idea of submerging carbon nanotubes in a flowing liquid to generate a voltage on its head, they came upon the idea of simply dragging water droplets across graphene instead.
When a saltwater drop sits still on top of a strip of graphene, any charge is redistributed symmetrically on both sides of the drop, leaving zero net potential difference between them. When the drop is moved, however, the distribution becomes unbalancedelectrons are desorbed at one end of the drop and absorbed at the other, generating a small amount of voltagejust 30mVenough to allow the team to use it as part of a handwriting sensor and as part of an energy harvesting device.
Using the newly discovered technique to generate electricity isn't going to become a commercial proposition anytime soon, of course, as there is still the tricky problem of creating mass amounts of graphene at a reasonable price. But if that ever happens, people everywhere could very easily create their own electricity, as it appears the process is exceptionally scalable.
Using the newly discovered technique to generate electricity isn't going to become a commercial proposition anytime soon, of course, as there is still the tricky problem of creating mass amounts of graphene at a reasonable price. But if that ever happens, people everywhere could very easily create their own electricity, as it appears the process is exceptionally scalable.
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Team finds electricity can be generated by dragging saltwater over graphene (Original Post)
mother earth
Apr 2014
OP
And imagine at the outset that we had really poured money into alternatives for energy and
mother earth
Apr 2014
#2
BanzaiBonnie
(3,621 posts)1. Years ago, I told my grandson
that we should be able to create some sort of collector that uses rainwater falling on our roof to generate electricity. I knew it would show up sooner or later.
mother earth
(6,002 posts)2. And imagine at the outset that we had really poured money into alternatives for energy and
research was priority...instead war and the MIC?
Let's hope the times are really changing and we are all waking up to what's really priority.
n2doc
(47,953 posts)3. And also note where this research was conducted
While the US reduces science funding, and increases military and spying.
mother earth
(6,002 posts)4. It is beyond sad, so much for American exceptionalism....nt