Scientists making the "Air-gen" device have discovered that any material can be used to generate electricity from the air.
ABSTRACT breaks down mind-bending scientific research, future tech, new discoveries, and major breakthroughs. See More → Scientists have invented a device that can continuously generate electricity from thin air, offering a glimpse of a possible sustainable energy source that can be made of almost any material and runs on the ambient humidity that surrounds all of us, reports a new study. The novel "air generator," or Air-gen, is made from materials with holes that are under 100 nanometers in length, which is a scale thousand times smaller than a human hair. This design can pull electricity from water droplets in the air for much longer periods than previous concepts, the researchers report, suggesting that it could eventually provide a continuous and sustainable source of power. Researchers hope the technique could eventually help to fight climate change by serving as an alternative to fossil fuels. Advertisement If you've ever seen a bolt of lightning streak across the sky, you've already had a sneak peek of the untapped power that is hidden in ambient air. This energy is fueled by the electrical charges of water droplets in the air, a phenomenon that has inspired many attempts to harvest humidity by inducing imbalances in charged waters with special devices. Many of these techniques only work for short periods, or require expensive materials, which presents practical challenges for efficiency and scalability. Now, researchers at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, have developed an Air-gen device that yields electricity from contact with water droplets that pass through its porous material. In this way, the Air-gen technology creates "a spontaneous and sustained charging gradient for continuous electric output" that "opens a wide door for the broad exploration of sustainable electricity from ambient air," according to a study published on Wednesday in Advanced Materials. "One day we may get clean electricity literally anywhere,…