How to self charge your mobile phones?

 

Here is the post about self charging of mobile phones. The thermoelectric effect is a phenomenon that exhibit on a certain materials. When you apply heat to a thermoelectric material, it exhibits an electric charge. If you apply an electric charge to the same material, it gets heated. When such thermo electric materials are drawn into nano wires called as the thermo nano wires.

• It can efficiently develop a greater potential difference as compared to the bulk state. Even a small amount of temperature will cause a greater potential difference. The simple, low cost thermo electric nano wires are grown radially around textile fibers.
• A self powering nano system which harvests its operating energy from the environment. It is used for an attractive proposition for sensing, electronics and defence technologies.

This is a principle that is feasible for nano devices owing to their extremely low power consumption. Solar, thermal and mechanical energies are common and that may be scavenged from the environment. But the type of energy source to be chosen has to be decided on the basis of specific applications.

NANO WIRES:

Nano generator built on hard substrates could be demonstrated for harvesting local mechanical and thermal energy. To harvest the energy from vibration or room temperature disturbance originating from footsteps, heartbeats, ambient noise and air flow, we use piezo effect and thermo electric nano wires.

• Nano scale is between 1 and 100 nanometers. A nano meter is one billionth of a meter. The nano wire is a structure that has an amazing length to width ratio.
• Nano wires can be incredibly thin. It is possible to create a nano wire with the diameter of just one nano meter.

SILICON NANO WIRES CONVERT ROOM TEMPERATURE TO ELECTRICITY:

• Silicon a staple of modern electronics could be used to make low cost devices that convert waste heat to electricity. The arrays of tiny silicon wires have extremely good “thermo electric” properties.
• Some researches proves that silicon-based thermo electric materials could overcome the limitations of cost and efficiency.Because silicon is an easy and inexpensive material to work with the right electrical properties to be a thermo electric material. However, silicon is also a good conductor of heat.
• A thermo electric material converts a temperature difference across a material into a voltage and silicon’s low thermal conductivity. Nano scale means that a meager amount of heat is required to create a very large potential difference, making it a very efficient thermo electric material.
• The arrays of tiny silicon nano wires by dipping silicon wafers into an aqueous solution of silver ions. The nano wires were 20 to 300 nm in diameter and the arrays have a thermo electric efficiency about 60 times greater than bulk silicon at room temperature.
• The rise in efficiency occurs because heat carrying sound waves called phonons. It have a very difficult time that move along with the very narrow nano wires. It reduce their ability to conduct heat.
• One important feature of thermo electric nano wires is that their surfaces are rough. It contributes to their high thermo electric nature. Now, the efficient thermo electric nano wire can convert room temperature and body temperature to electricity.

CHARGING OF MOBILE PHONES:

• Bulk silicon is a poor thermo electric material at room temperature. But by substantially reducing the thermal conductivity of our silicon nano wires without significantly reducing electrical conductivity.
• It is possible to achieve a large enhancement of thermo electric energy efficiency at room temperature in rough silicon nano wires that have been processed by wafer scale electro chemical synthesis.

The following structure proposed the thermo electric nano wires. It forms the charging station of the cell phone.

• Lead or plates of the NTG are used. One plate gets exposed to the atmosphere in order to absorb the temperature. The other plate is inside the cell phone.
• It can absorb the atmospheric temperature and convert it to electricity and thereby supply charge to the cell phone by means of two external leads which are at bulk state only.
• Both the plates form the leads to conduct the potential difference to the battery. The plates are maintained at thermal difference as targeted by the arrangement.
• Atmospheric heat flows from one plate to another. As a result we get a voltage at either of the leads or plates of the NTG.
• Then the panel will do the work of converting the room and body temperature to electricity.

This concept of having different structure using nano wires will go a long way in eliminating adapters to charge cell phones. When appropriate researches and developments are done, it can even apply this to any portable device such as laptops and walky talkies.

The tensile strength of the nano porous silicon, the nano wires will provide a strong casing for the cell phones. The nano generator adds neither to the weight of the cell phone nor to the cost.