Research update: Generating electricity from tacky tape
2025-01-30
(Press-News.org) Zaps of static electricity might be a wintertime annoyance, but to certain scientists, they represent an untapped source of energy. Using a device called a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), mechanical energy can be converted into electrical energy using triboelectric effect static. Many TENGs contain expensive, specially fabricated materials, but one team has instead used inexpensive store-bought tape, plastic and aluminum metal. The researchers report an improved version of their tape-based TENG in ACS Omega.
The research team, led by Gang Wang and Moon-Hyung Jang, previously stacked layers of a store-bought double-sided tape, plastic film and aluminum metal to form an effective, low-cost TENG. When the layers of tape were pressed together and pulled apart, a small amount of electricity was generated. But the tape’s stickiness proved problematic, requiring a lot of force to detach the layers.
For the new and improved TENG, researchers replaced the double-sided tape with layers of thicker, heavy-duty single-sided tape. Unlike the old version, power is generated by the interaction between the polypropylene backing of the tape and the acrylic adhesive layer. The smooth surfaces can easily stick and unstick from one another, enabling the TENG to be rapidly connected and disconnected, thereby generating even more power in a shorter amount of time than before. Researchers accomplished this by placing the TENG atop a vibrational plate that bounced the tape layers apart, generating electricity as they came into contact and separated repeatedly.
In tests, the new device produced a maximum power of 53 milliwatts. Additionally, it created enough power to light more than 350 LED lights as well as a laser pointer. The team also incorporated the tape TENG into two sensors: a self-powered, wearable biosensor for detecting arm movements and an acoustic sensor for sound waves.
This study demonstrates the utility of a low-cost TENG that performs well, and the researchers hope the device's applications can expand into power generation and self-powered sensors.
The authors acknowledge funding from the Charger Innovation Fund from the University of Alabama at Huntsville.
###
The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, e-books and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.
Registered journalists can subscribe to the ACS journalist news portal on EurekAlert! to access embargoed and public science press releases. For media inquiries, contact newsroom@acs.org.
Note: ACS does not conduct research but publishes and publicizes peer-reviewed scientific studies.
Follow us: Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram
END
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2025-01-30
A research team led by Dr Prof. Hitoshi Yamamoto of Rissho University and Dr Prof. Takahisa Suzuki of Tsuda University explored the conditions under which people would accept the moral judgments of AI. They focused on the behaviour of "not helping people with bad reputations (justified non-cooperation)," which is difficult for people to judge as good or bad, to investigate under what conditions people are more likely to accept AI's judgments over human judgments. The study revealed that people tend to be more accepting of AI's judgments when AI makes positive judgments and humans make negative judgments. The research results were published in the ...
2025-01-30
Hamilton, ON, Jan. 30, 2025 – Researchers have shown that plumes of wildfire smoke can carry contaminants hundreds of kilometres, leaving a toxic and lingering footprint which has the potential to be re-released into the environment.
The frequency and severity of wildfires is expected to continue increasing due to climate change. In recent weeks, catastrophic wildfires have devasted Los Angeles, scorching tens of thousands of acres.
Canada’s 2023 wildfire season was the most destructive ever recorded, with an estimated 18.5 million hectares burned. The 2024 season was the second worst on record, with more than 5 million ...
2025-01-30
UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL: Jan. 30, 2025, 8:45 a.m. MST
Denver, Colo. ― Congenital heart defects ...
2025-01-30
Researchers report January 30 in the Cell Press journal Joule that a more efficient and environmentally friendly form of refrigeration might be on the horizon. The new technology is based on thermogalvanic cells that produce a cooling effect by way of a reversible electrochemical reaction. Thermogalvanic refrigeration is cheaper and more environmentally friendly than other cooling methods because it requires a far lower energy input, and its scalability means that it could be used for various applications—from wearable cooling devices to industrial-grade scenarios.
“Thermogalvanic technology is on its way to our lives, ...
2025-01-30
Lead pollution in the Aegean Sea region may have begun around 5,200 years ago, according to a paper published in Communications Earth & Environment. The findings suggest that lead pollution due to human activities began approximately 1,200 years earlier than previously thought, and that the expansion of the Roman Empire across the Aegean region led to a significant increase in lead pollution in the region around 2,150 years ago.
Andreas Koutsodendris and colleagues analysed the lead content of ...
2025-01-30
Studies of sediment cores from the sea floor and the coastal regions surrounding the Aegean Sea show that humans contaminated the environment with lead early on in antiquity. A research team led by geoscientists from Heidelberg University conducted the analyses, which revealed that human activity in the region resulted in lead contamination of the environment approximately 5,200 years ago – much earlier than previously known. Combined with the results of pollen analyses from the sediment cores, this contamination also offers insights into socioeconomic change in the Aegean, even reflecting historical ...
2025-01-30
About The Study: This cohort study documented a large decrease in antidepressant use without an accompanying increase in psychotherapy during pregnancy. These findings, coupled with evidence of mental health challenges during and after pregnancy, suggest the need for increased focus on and discussion about mental health treatments by pregnant women and their clinicians.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Claire Boone, PhD, email claire.boone@mcgill.ca.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our ...
2025-01-30
About The Study: The overall prevalence of social isolation in this study was 3%, which is lower than other determinants of health, such as smoking, poverty, and inadequate health insurance. The results indicate 3 broad and likely interrelated populations at risk for social isolation, including racial and ethnic minority groups, those with financial insecurity (i.e., unemployed, uninsured, lower income), and those with chronic health conditions, with depression being a large factor.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Hao Yu, PhD, email hao_yu@hphci.harvard.edu.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media ...
2025-01-30
About The Study: In this cross-sectional study, underrepresented in medicine internal medicine residents remained underrepresented compared with their program’s county populations. These findings should inform racial and ethnic diversity policies to address the continuing underrepresentation among graduate medical education physicians, which adversely impacts the care of historically underserved communities.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Jung G. Kim, PhD, MPH, email jung.kim3@nyulangone.org.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.57310)
Editor’s ...
2025-01-30
About The Study: This cross-sectional study found that the foods advertised during National Football League games, the most watched sporting events in the U.S., were frequently high in sodium, calorie, and fat content. Although the effectiveness of sports advertising and paid sponsorships on food consumption has been studied mostly among children and young adults, adults with prevalent conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes and kidney failure, may also be vulnerable to deviations ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Research update: Generating electricity from tacky tape
