Scientists discover how to produce electricity from air – Enseñame de Ciencia

It is man’s continuous scientific quest to generate energy without significant material cost or pollution. Recently, a group of engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst made a breakthrough in electricity, a clean method of harvesting ambient electric currents using a new material they created from microorganisms.

The researchers responsible for developing this material state that any porous material that meets the specifications can be used to benefit from the energy generated in the air from its moisture, and this material must be made of bacteria and with a final nanoscale layer. . , with pores of at least 100 nanometers in diameter, reported Jun Yao, one of the authors of the article published in the journal. Advanced materials. air effect.

In 2020, this same author, Yao and colleague Derek Lovely, explored the fascinating uses that Geobater sulfurreducens bacteria, which can store electricity generated from moisture in the air, could have from a porous material in the form of nanowires made from the same bacteria.

In Yao’s words, with the discovery of these microorganisms and their ability to conduct electricity came the discovery of their ability to generate energy with air, which he called the air gene effect.

Through their latest studies, they realize that this energy harvesting effect does in fact occur in any material made with the appropriate properties, namely that its composition depends on microorganisms and that the material has pores of at least 100 nanometers.

Free path means when a normal cloud of water precipitates, there is space between one water molecule and another before they collide with each other creating a charge of energy, which together creates what we know as lightning, this is called the mean free path.

The air generator or “air generator” in Spanish seeks to recreate the same function of the free path medium, by applying a large amount of water molecules to the porous surface of the material.

And since the particles at the bottom of the air generator are not charged in the same way, this can lead to an instability of the energy charge, which is the main reason for the electric charges to start flowing.

This is an important step for using electrical energy as we know it. This power harvester can be used continuously 24/7, however sunny, cloudy, rainy, nocturnal, windy or any type of weather. In the not too distant future, it may be the main tool for using electricity without generating pollution. An invention without a doubt has the power to change the world as we live it.