Woven Nanofibers to Generate Electricity

Imagine a personal, portable generator that boosts a failing phone or powers a small LED flashlight to guide you safely through the dark. Need power? Just plug into your clothes.

Researchers are the University of California have an idea how such a 'power suit' might work. Millions of nanofibers woven into your clothes capture the energy of your every movement and harness them as usable electricity. The fibers are really fine and light so clothes should be comfortable and yet the fibers are strong enough to hold up to normal wash and wear.

There is a lot of buzz about the nanofiber project. The Pentagon hopes that soldiers could energize small appliances in the field independent of other power sources like heavy batteries. Outdoor enthusiasts could recharge their cameras, phones or flashlights without leaving the wild. But best of all, the rest of us wouldn't need to remember any more to charge our favorite device. We could just keep it in the pockets of our power clothes.

Once we are good at making power cloth, other applications beckon:

Kite Flying at night: hundreds of kite dance in the wind, their tales bend and twist in the wind generating the piezoelectricity that powers their crow pleasing light displays. The best kites are the brightest. Great skill is required in the building and handling of piezo kites. Their creators are the envied leaders of a new craze among young people.

Wind Sails and Flags: Sail boats carry at least one sail woven with nanofibers giving them another source of energy and reducing the need for heavy batteries.
Small flags generate the power for porch lights. Large, fixed flags or small sails on poles make walk lights independent of the power grid.

Fiber Kelp: Maybe we could even rethink our approach to generating power from the ocean and rivers. Instead of giant clunky cylinders, or huge barriers, electricity could be produced by tens of thousands of cloth streamers, bending with the current like giant kelp and being just as hospitable to marine life.