• HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Saturday, March 6, 2021
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
    • BIOENGINEERING
    • SCIENCE NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • FORUM
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Chemistry

Load-reducing backpack powers electronics by harvesting energy from walking

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
February 3, 2021
in Chemistry
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

IMAGE

Credit: Adapted from ACS Nano 2021, DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.0c07498

Hikers, soldiers and school children all know the burden of a heavy backpack. But now, researchers have developed a prototype that not only makes loads feel about 20% lighter, but also harvests energy from human movements to power small electronics. The new backpack, reported in ACS Nano, could be especially useful for athletes, explorers and disaster rescuers who work in remote areas without electricity, the researchers say.

Backpacks are widely used in everyday life for the hands-free carrying of loads. Over time, however, walking or running with a heavy sack can cause back and neck pain. Also, backpackers in wilderness areas (or even those in cities who don’t have ready access to a charger) might wish for a bag that could harvest the mechanical energy of walking to power portable electronics or health-monitoring sensors. Previously, researchers have used triboelectric nanogenerators (TENG) — small devices that convert mechanical energy into electricity ¬¬– to make energy-harvesting backpacks, but those bags had relatively low power outputs and they didn’t provide added benefits, such as load lightening or shock absorption. Zhong Lin Wang, Jia Cheng and colleagues wanted to design a prototype that overcame these limitations.

To save labor and absorb shock, the researchers incorporated into the backpack two elastomers that stretched and shrank, keeping the bag steady as the wearer walked. This resulted in about a 20% reduced force on the wearer. Meanwhile, movement between the frame of the backpack and its load during walking drove a TENG to convert mechanical energy into electricity, with 14% efficiency. The researchers showed that the bag could power LEDs, an electric watch and fluorescent tubes. Once some challenges, such as improving the energy conversion efficiency, are overcome, the backpack has promising potential as a power source for small-scale wearable and portable electronics, GPSs and health care sensors, the researchers say.

###

The authors acknowledge funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Science and Technology Major Project of China, the National Key Research and Development Program of China and the Tsinghua University Initiative Scientific Research Program.

The paper’s abstract will be available on February 3 at 8 a.m. Eastern time here: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsnano.0c07498

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and its people. The Society is a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a specialist in scientific information solutions (including SciFinder® and STN®), its CAS division powers global research, discovery and innovation. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact [email protected]

Follow us: Twitter | Facebook

Media Contact
Katie Cottingham
[email protected]

Tags: Chemistry/Physics/Materials SciencesElectrical Engineering/ElectronicsEnergy/Fuel (non-petroleum)ExerciseMaterialsNanotechnology/Micromachines
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

IMAGE

Study shows cactus pear as drought-tolerant crop for sustainable fuel and food

March 5, 2021
IMAGE

Christopher Tunnell wins NSF CAREER Award

March 5, 2021

Tantalizing signs of phase-change ‘turbulence’ in RHIC collisions

March 5, 2021

Species are our livelihoods

March 5, 2021

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

POPULAR NEWS

  • IMAGE

    Terahertz accelerates beyond 5G towards 6G

    668 shares
    Share 267 Tweet 167
  • People living with HIV face premature heart disease and barriers to care

    84 shares
    Share 34 Tweet 21
  • Global analysis suggests COVID-19 is seasonal

    39 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • HIV: an innovative therapeutic breakthrough to optimize the immune system

    36 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Tags

Climate ChangecancerMaterialsCell BiologyChemistry/Physics/Materials SciencesBiologyTechnology/Engineering/Computer ScienceInfectious/Emerging DiseasesPublic HealthEcology/EnvironmentMedicine/HealthGenetics

Recent Posts

  • “Magic sand” might help us understand the physics of granular matter
  • Study reveals how egg cells get so big
  • Survey identifies factors in reducing clinical research coordinator turnover
  • New ‘split-drive’ system puts scientists in the (gene) driver seat
  • Contact Us

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

© 2019 Bioengineer.org - Biotechnology news by Science Magazine - Scienmag.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In