Producing clean energy from yarns. The technological devices of the future could say goodbye to batteries thanks to the new invention that comes from the United States. Scientists at the University of Dallas have in fact created yarns wrapped in carbon nanotubes, capable of generating energy when they stretch or twist.
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To produce clean energy from yarns. The technological devices of the future could tell goodbye to batteries thanks to the new invention that comes from the United States. Scientists at the University of Dallas have in fact made yarns wrapped in carbon nanotubes, capable of generating power when they stretch or twist.
This opens up another frontier in the field of renewable energies. In collaboration with colleagues from South Korea, the researchers developed a special high-tech yarn dubbed "twistron”Whose possible applications for the production of energy are many: from the exploitation of the motion of ocean waves to temperature fluctuations.
The yarn is constructed with carbon nanotubes, hollow cylinders whose diameter is 10.000 times smaller than a human hair. Researchers carried out a series of tests, for example transforming the nanotubes into yarns that are high strength and light but also elastic and capable of resisting twisting.
To generate electricity, such yarns must be dipped or coated with a conductive material or electrolyte, which can be as simple as a common mixture of salt and water.
“Basically, these yarns are supercapacitors (devices capable of delivering high electrical power for short periods of time),” said Dr Na Li, co-author of the study. “In a normal capacitor, you use energy - like that of a battery - to add charges. But in our case, when you insert the carbon nanotube wire into an electrolyte bath, the yarns are charged by the electrolyte itself. No external battery or voltage is needed ”.
This is one of the main strengths of the invention. When a yarn is twisted or pulled, the volume of the carbon nanotube yarn decreases, making it easier for electrical charges to build up on the nearest yarn. This increases the voltage associated with the charge stored in the yarn and the production of electricity.
Pulling the yarns, wound 30 times per second, generated 250 watts per kilogram of electrical power, the scientists explain.
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Further studies will be needed before this yarn can end up in our homes for large-scale electricity production but it is yet another demonstration that there are alternatives to oil.
Francesca Mancuso
