Nano-scale electricity from clothes

Nano-scale electricity from clothes

With BC-Power Clothes

By The Associated Press

ELECTRIC FABRIC: Georgia Tech scientists have developed a way to generate electricity through the normal rustling of fabric, raising the prospect of clothing that could power personal gadgets.

HOW IT WORKS: Ultra-miniature zinc oxide wires on individual threads of fabric rub against each other, producing a current through the piezoelectric effect. That’s the principle in which electricity is created when pressure is applied to certain materials.

WHY IT’S YEARS AWAY: Researchers need to scale this up to sizable pieces of fabric, improve the efficiency of the design and make the threads waterproof.