New technology comes along every day and today is not any different. South Korean researchers have out done themselves with new technology that could power your cell phone by converting the sound of conversation into electricity. This could be a big deal for cell phone users that complain about battery life. The Korean researches believe that sound can actually be converted into electricity, among other things. The technology would have many uses, just about anywhere a sound can be heard, and electricity can be converted.
The Korean researcher, Dr. Sang-Woo Kim was interviewed by the Telegraph and in the interview Dr. Kim said that a cell phone could even be charged without a conversation going; rather the background noise was charging the phone as well. Other researchers at the Sungkyunkwan University’s Institute of Nanotechnology have called the process “energy scavenging” and it includes other processes to create energy like kinetic energy.
These types of energy aren’t likely going to charge the whole battery, but could be used to top off the battery without the use of a wall charger. Energy Scavenging actually works via zinc oxide wires that compress and release when the sound waves cause vibrations in an absorbing pad. Right now the zinc oxide is not a very efficient material and soon the researchers are hoping to find a new material that would be more efficient.
Dr. Kim says the electricity that is created is about the equivalent to 50 millivolts of electricity from around 100 decibels of sound. This amount of electricity can power low level electronics like body implants or self-powered sensors. 100 decibels of sound can be compared to that of a loud motorcycle. Smartphones are not likely to be charged with his type of feature, but regular cell phones are certainly on the list of items that can be charged.
Dr. Kim told the Telegraph that, “The sound that always exists in our everyday life and environments has been overlooked as a source. This motivated us to realize power generation by turning sound energy from speech, music or noise into electrical power”. Similar to that of wind power, sound power could be anywhere and everywhere in the world, making the process of getting the electricity from sound something that wouldn’t have to be specific to a location.
This type of technology is exactly why having researches working around the clock is very important to how we live our lives every day.
