Taiwanese engineers have invented a bendable water-enabled portable power bank — a device that generates power from a few drops of water.
The gadget, which last month received the Future Tech Award, utilizes membrane technology to generate electricity from water, a team from National Taiwan University of Science and Technology said in Taipei yesterday.
Yeh Li-hsien (葉禮賢), a professor of chemical engineering at the university, said that the technology was inspired by the circulatory system and the growth rings of trees.
Photo courtesy of National Taiwan University of Science and Technology
As water drops vaporize, the membrane of the device makes use of capillary action to move the water molecules and ions, Yeh said.
The gadget produces 0.8 volts of electricity for four hours from a few droplets of water, enough to recharge a calculator, LED lights and other low-power electronic devices, he said.
The technology could function as a backup energy source for life-saving illumination devices or detectors by utilizing water, or even sweat or urine, he added.
The membrane also has other applications, such as powering filters and anti-bacterial devices in masks or other textiles, Yeh said.
The new gadget is bendable, can be repeatedly used, immediately generates power, is environmentally friendly, highly efficient and capable of continued output over a long duration, as well as being inexpensive and simple to produce, he said.
Team member Chen Wei-ting (陳薇婷), a student at the university, said that the most significant challenge in making the device was quality control, which is essential for stable power generation.
Yeh Shao-hu (葉紹琥), another student, said that the team hopes the gadget could be incorporated into wearable devices.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and Chunghwa Telecom yesterday confirmed that an international undersea cable near Keelung Harbor had been cut by a Chinese ship, the Shunxin-39, a freighter registered in Cameroon. Chunghwa Telecom said the cable had its own backup equipment, and the incident would not affect telecommunications within Taiwan. The CGA said it dispatched a ship under its first fleet after receiving word of the incident and located the Shunxin-39 7 nautical miles (13km) north of Yehliu (野柳) at about 4:40pm on Friday. The CGA demanded that the Shunxin-39 return to seas closer to Keelung Harbor for investigation over the
National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology (NKUST) yesterday promised it would increase oversight of use of Chinese in course materials, following a social media outcry over instances of simplified Chinese characters being used, including in a final exam. People on Threads wrote that simplified Chinese characters were used on a final exam and in a textbook for a translation course at the university, while the business card of a professor bore the words: “Taiwan Province, China.” Photographs of the exam, the textbook and the business card were posted with the comments. NKUST said that other members of the faculty did not see
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
EARTHQUAKE: Taipei and New Taipei City accused a construction company of ignoring the Circular MRT’s original design, causing sections to shift by up to 92cm The Taipei and New Taipei City governments yesterday said they would seek NT$1.93 billion (US$58.6 million) in compensation from the company responsible for building the Circular MRT Line, following damage sustained during an earthquake in April last year that had shuttered a section for months. BES Engineering Corp, a listed company under Core Pacific Group, was accused of ignoring the original design when constructing the MRT line, resulting in negative shear strength resistance and causing sections of the rail line between Jhonghe (中和) and Banciao (板橋) districts to shift by up to 92cm during the April 3 earthquake. The pot bearings on
RSS