IIT-Kgp researchers generate electricity from wet clothes

As part of an initiative to generate clean and sustainable power, researchers at IIT Kharagpur have developed a new technology to source electricity from clothes drying in open space, a statement here said on Thursday. The technology was recently tested at a remote village, where around 50 wet cloth items were put up for drying by washermen across a surface area of 3000 sq. metre.

The clothes, when connected to a commercial supercapacitor, discharged electricity of around 10 Volt in almost 24 hours - enough to glow a white LED for over an hour. According to the statement, traditionally woven cellulose-based fabric contains a tiny channel network, which was used by the researchers for power generation.

"The clothes we wear are made from cellulose-based textile which has a network of nano-channels. Ions in saline water can move through this by capillary action inducing an electric potential in the process," explained lead researcher Suman Chakraborty. Capillary action is defined as the movement of water within the spaces of a porous material.

"Until now, it was beyond imagination that a wet cloth being dried in a natural atmosphere could be capable of generating clean energy. This new technology would be extremely beneficial in addressing the essential power requirements in remote villages," Chakraborty added..

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