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Aug 15, 2023

Hand-held tube containing aluminum foil balls produces enough electricity to power LED array when shaken

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, materials

A team of mechanical engineers from Chung-Ang University, Massachusetts General Hospital, LS Materials and Yonsei University has found that a hand-held cylinder containing crumpled aluminum foil balls is capable of producing enough electricity when shaken to light a small LED grid. In their paper published in the journal Advanced Science, the group describes other materials used in the cylinder and possible uses for such a device.

Prior research has shown that a wide variety of materials can be used to generate , and that some constructions can capture that . Researchers have suggested such devices could be useful as the power needs of personal electronics decrease. In this new effort, the researchers have looked to aluminum foil as a material for generating static electricity and capturing it to power an external device.

The device the team built is shaped as a with a cap on the top and bottom—about the size of a Pringle’s can. The tube was made using an acrylic substrate covered with a polytetrafluoroethylene layer. The caps, which serve as electrodes, were made of aluminum. The team then crumpled three wads of into balls and placed them inside the tube.

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