Using a new prototype from IIT Mandi, mobile phones can be charged simply by holding them in the palm or keeping them in a pocket.
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi are developing thermoelectric materials that can efficiently convert heat into electricity.
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi are developing thermoelectric materials that can efficiently convert heat into electricity.
In recent times, much attention has been paid to solar power, but other alternative sources are equally promising, albeit less well known.
Ajay Soni, Associate Professor, IIT Mandi, is studying materials that can convert heat into electricity. It is completely different from solar energy.
This process does not require very large equipment or massive and extremely hot objects like the Sun.
Sony said that many electronic gadgets can be charged only by the heat of the human body.
The IIT said that industrial and energy production processes often generate huge amounts of waste heat that get absorbed into the atmosphere. A group of scientists in India is working on new materials that can harness the waste heat generated from these processes and facilitate its use.
A team of researchers has found several new smart materials that can efficiently convert waste heat into electricity and small
home appliances
and automobiles.
Materials that can convert waste heat into electrical energy are called thermoelectric materials. Keeping one end of the material hot and the other cold produces an electrical voltage, which creates a temperature gradient.
According to Sony, they have developed a prototype module that can absorb heat from the human body and convert it into electricity. Through this technology, the mobile phone can be charged just by keeping it in the palm or keeping it in the pocket.
Similarly, a laptop can be charged on the lap without any charger, socket or switch.
Sony said that the heat emitted from the human body is sufficient to charge these devices. All these devices will have a small module set. The module inside the device will charge the device by converting body heat into energy.
According to research, not only mobiles and laptops but many other devices like wrist watches and earphones can be charged with human heat.
Soni also said that during his research he found that the module developed by his team can efficiently convert heat emitted from various devices other than the human body into electricity.
When the bonnet of a car is heated, energy can be generated from it.
Sony said that there are many large appliances that radiate heat and this heat can be converted into electricity. Till now, it gets wasted in the form of heat, which is becoming a major cause of global warming.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – IANS,
