Talk about cool new technology! No, seriously—you should talk about a breakthrough by South Korean researchers in the conversion of sound into electricity, because that conversation could be what's powering your future cell phone calls.
"Sound power can be used for various novel applications including cellular phones that can be charged during conversations," said Dr. Sang-Woo Kim in a recent interview with The Telegraph.
Kim and his colleagues at Sungkyunkwan University's Institute of Nanotechnology in Seoul say they have developed a new method of converting sound into electricity. They say a cell phone could be charged simply by talking into it while other applications could include installing "sound-insulating walls near highways that generate electricity from the sound of passing vehicles."
Even when a phone wasn't in use, background noise could be used by the process to charge the device, Kim said.
"Energy scavenging" to power mobile devices is a growing field in the high-tech industry. Researchers have explored such areas as the use of movement, or kinetic energy, to top up gadgets without requiring a wall socket and a charger.
The Sungkyunkwan University team hasn't yet figured out a way to completely charge up a device using only converted sound. But Kim said the technology, which generates an electrical current via zinc oxide wires that compress and release when sound waves cause an absorbing pad to vibrate, should only get better when his team switches out the zinc oxide for a more efficient material.
"Our current output performance can be applied to various electronic devices with low-power consumption such as self-powered sensors and body-implantable tiny devices. We believe that we can realize more efficient sound-driven nanogenerators," he told The Telegraph.
At present, the prototype sound converter is able to turn about 100 decibels into 50 millivolts of electricity, according to the British daily.
