Researchers at the University of South Carolina have invented a shirt that can store energy and charge mobile devices. This technology is still under experimentation that could design the clothes of the future, because we are increasingly dependent on electricity in motion.
The project began when researchers at the University of South Carolina and Lihong Bao Xiaodong Li tried to find out what happened to the cellulose fibers of the clothes if they are loaded with energy, according to the journal of Chemical Technology in Advanced Materials Journal the number 24.
They developed their experiment by immersing the garment in a fluoride solution and dried. Subsequently, heated to high temperatures, eliminating the oxygen and succeeded in converting cellulose activated carbon particles, making act as an electric double layer capacitor. The garment was so conductive as any device of electric charge.
Subsequently, Bao and Li nanometer applied a manganese oxide to improve the conductive capacity of the fabric. "This created a very stable supercapacitor," says Li.
Once you create a super-conductive shirt with a condenser, the researchers developed a test phase loading and unloading the shirt with electricity. They claim the results are "excellent", with a loss of performance after several rounds of 5 percent.
"Lumping these supercapacitors, we should be able to carry electrical devices such as mobile phones," he assured Professor Li.
The applications of this technology would be used to charge mobile devices, but still unknown how they could insert chargers and adapters on the shirt without losing its shape. Also, Bao and Li have not provided details on the likely effects on health, if any, or at least in the aesthetic design of our clothes.
The main advantage is in the same medium as Li stressed: "we have shirts every day, and could have more uses." Convert all items that user has smartphone in a walking boot certainly very attractive and it is possible to imagine a rapid spread of the invention.
The researchers say that would improve performance by increasing the conductivity of the material with carbon nanotubes (CNT), but considerably increase the price and they are contaminants. For now, boast to say they have managed to create a cheap and green driver.
Related links:
- Avanced Materials Journal Magazine
(Http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.201200246/full)
