• Green Products
  • Eco Homes
  • DIY
  • Transportation
  • Earth
  • Energy
  • Gallery

Earth Power News

Your Guide to Living Wisely in Today's World

Home → Renewable Energy → Pulling electricity from the ambient air
Droplets hop from a superhydrophobic surface. Image: Nenad Miljkovic & Daniel Preston

Droplets hop from a superhydrophobic surface. Image: Nenad Miljkovic & Daniel Preston

Pulling electricity from the ambient air

This is a nice surprise: MIT researchers made the unexpected discovery that when two or more water droplets merge and jump away from a superhydrophobic [1] surface, the droplets carry an electric charge.

How does it work? First, you need the right kind of superhydrophobic surface. Next, add humid air. As droplets condense and form on the superhydrophobic surface, they assemble into a layer of paired positive and negative charges. When the drops coalesce and spring from the surface, it happens so quickly that the charge separates. Part of the charge remains on the surface, and the rest is carried away by the droplets.

Because water jumps away from superhydrophobic surfaces, an immediate application for such surfaces is condensers. Condensers are used in most electricity-generating power plants, which means that overall plant efficiency can improve.

But that’s not all:

By placing two parallel metal plates out in the open, with one surface that has droplets jumping, and another that collects them…you could generate some power – just from condensation from the ambient air. All that would be needed is a way of keeping the condenser surface cool, such as water from a nearby lake or river. You just need a cold surface in a moist environment. (Nenad Miljkovic)

Here’s the best 22 seconds of charged droplet video you’ll see today. In the video you can clearly see how the droplets are drawn toward a negatively charged electrode.

Electricity from humid air – how exciting is that?

Read more at web.mit.edu: Droplets get a charge out of jumping


  1. Superhydrophobic: extremely difficult to make wet. Superhydrophobic surfaces repel water to a degree that droplets roll off the surface instead of flattening and “sticking.”  ↩

Filed Under: Renewable Energy Tagged With: electricity, MIT, Superhydrophobic

You may also like:

  • What's the difference between AC and DC? Photo: Gamerzero/morguefile.comWhat’s the difference between AC and DC?
  • Sunpower X-Series Solar Panels. Photo: SunpowerSunPower X-Series Solar Panels
  • Solar panels. Photo: Vera KratochvilFamily pays $26,750 for solar panels never received
  • Clip-on wind turbine from Cleantec Wind. Image: Cleantec Wind/IndiegogoClip On Wind Turbine

Search

Advertisement

Sponsored Links

Our Twitter Feed

Tweets by @EarthPowerNews

Browse Earth Power News

  • Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
  • DIY
  • Featured
  • Gallery
  • Green Products
  • Planet Earth
  • Renewable Energy
  • Small World in Motion Competition
  • Sustainable Homes
  • Transportation

Recent posts

  • Sacha Dench, the human swan
  • The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards
  • 2015 Nikon Small World in Motion Competition
  • Have you seen Miami Beach?
  • Phytoplankton in the North Atlantic

Contact & Legal

  • Privacy Policy
  • Unsubscribe policy

Copyright © 2009—2023 Earth Power News