You all know that the main problem of mobile terminals is autonomy, most devices only work for a few hours before running out of battery power. Being such a big problem, some researchers have tried to discover an innovative way to produce electricity for mobile terminals and now I will talk about it. Researchers have implemented piezoelectric elements in the terminals that transform sounds, key presses or simple shaking of the terminals into electrical energy.
The researchers experimented with zinc oxide, a common piezoelectric material, to see how well it converts vibrations from sound and pressure waves into energy to power a phone. They subjected the material to sound waves of 100 decibels, which made the material vibrate and produce an electrical current at about 50 millivolts. In a cellphone, the piezoelectric material would be mounted below the keys and convert mechanical vibrations into energy that could be stored for later use.
100 dB sounds produce 100 millivolts of energy, shakes or key presses do not produce enough energy to keep a mobile phone active, but produce enough for an emergency situation. The technology is currently under development and will probably not reach mobile terminals too soon, being insufficiently powerful to provide the necessary energy for the operation of a device, but the idea itself is interesting.
