It becomes easier and cheaper to store electricity directly from the humidity present in the air, thanks to a technique that allows the use of many types of materials, provided they are dotted with nanopores, i.e. tiny holes with a diameter of less than 100 nanometers, less than one thousandth the thickness of a human hair. It is the indicated way to obtain clean energy, at low cost and available everywhere 24 hours a day and in all weather conditions, obtained from the American University of Massachusetts in Amherst and published in the journal Advanced Materials.
“The air contains a huge amount of electricity: just think of a cloud, which is nothing more than a mass of water droplets,” observes Jun Yao, one of the researchers led by Xiaomeng Liu. “Each droplet contains a charge, and under the right conditions, the cloud can generate lightning. We don’t know how to reliably capture electricity from lightning,” Yao continues, “and what we’ve done is replicate a small-scale cloud, which produces electricity for us in a predictable and continuous way”.
The researchers verified that the nanopore-based structure works effectively because as they pass through the pinholes, water molecules bump more easily against their upper edge than their lower edge. This creates an imbalance of electric charges between the two sides, similar to what happens in a cloud, and constitutes a sort of battery that continues to function as long as there is moisture in the air.
Source: Ansa
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