When it comes to 3D printing, the sky is the limit. As 3D printing technology continues to advance, applications can be as far reaching as airplane and automobile parts to medical devices and even anatomically correct, biocompatible models. Although 3D printing technology is developing at a rapid pace, the technology itself is not new. It emerged in the 1980s as a means of creating rapid prototypes. In recent years the applications for 3D printed models have evolved with the available hardware, software, and printable materials. Evolving technology, paired with the creative and innovative minds of scientists, engineers, and physicians, has been the launching pad for developments within 3D printing technology specific to healthcare. One way 3D printing technology is poised to create better patient outcomes is in creating an anatomically and patient-specific models to aid in surgery and medical procedures. With the capability to 3D ...
In the future, you might not need an outlet to recharge a phone or run a flashlight. Instead, simply sitting on the device for a few minutes might power it up.
Wake Forest University researchers have created a thin, flexible material comprised of plastic fibres and nanotubes that can turn waste heat into electrical current, writes Katie Neal for the university’s Office of Communications and External Relations.
Research team leader David Carroll told Neal: “Imagine it in an emergency kit, wrapped around a flashlight, powering a weather radio, charging a prepaid cell phone.” He said, “Literally, just by sitting on your phone, Power Felt could provide relief during power outages or accidents.”
The researchers call the material Power Felt because, according to their journal article, it resembles a felt fabric. Individual composite films of multiwalled carbon nanotubes/polyvinylidene fluoride are layered into multiple element modules. Neal explains that it creates a charge by using temperature differences, such as the difference between room temperature and body temperature.
Power Felt is not the first or most efficient thermoelectric material, but it may be the least expensive. An efficient metal compound is currently used in mobile refrigerators and CPU coolers, but it costs up to a $1,000 per kilogram. Neal writes that the researchers aim to get their compound down to about $1 for the quantity needed for a cell phone cover.
The researchers write in their journal article:
Since these fabrics have the potential to be cheaper, lighter, and more easily processed than the commonly used thermoelectric bismuth telluride, the overall performance of the fabric shows promise as a realistic alternative in a number of applications such as portable lightweight electronics.
But Power Felt can do more than just juice up a cell phone. Neal describes other varied potential uses for Power Felt such as:
[…] lining automobile seats to boost battery power and service electrical needs, insulating pipes or collecting heat under roof tiles to lower gas or electric bills, lining clothing or sports equipment to monitor performance, or wrapping IV or wound sites to better track patients’ medical needs.
Neal notes that the researchers are working on adding thinner nanotube layers to enhance power output, and that the university is talking with investors interested in commercial production of Power Felt.
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