Electric Clothing and Climate Change – In the News

Researchers at UC Berkeley are giving a whole new meaning to an “electric personality.” The LA Times recently reported on an interesting study at UC Berkeley that you might want to share with the kids in your life. Researchers are  creating microscopic fibers that produce electricity from body motions like bending and stretching. The fibers are very thin, less than 1/10^th the width of a cloth fiber and 1/100 the width of human hair. The fibers are heat and chemical resistant and could withstand multiple trips to the washing machine. The material that the fibers are made from is the same used to produce fishing lines and insulation for electrical wires.

Creators of these fibers see a life for them in regular clothing. They could easily be woven into various types of material, creating clothing that would, in combination with body motion, act as a portable generator. Concerned that your IPOD battery is dying, or your cell phone is low on juice; out hiking in the Sierra’s with no plug to recharge? No worries, you may soon be able to generate your own “power.” The Pentagon sees many advantages to this new technology as well, and is behind some of the funding for this project. An almost weightless power source could provide a fantastic alternative for soldiers, who currently have to carry heavy batteries, often on their backs, so that they can have a readily available power supply to charge up their equipment.