A discovery made by researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) and the Australian National University, both in Australia, may mean a simple tap from your finger could be enough to charge your portable device. The scientists combined piezoelectrics – materials capable of turning pressure into electricity – with thin film technology. The technique, developed by Dr. Simon Ruffell, from the ANU Research School of Physics and Engineering, and Dr. Madhu Bhaskaran and Dr. Sharath Sriram from RMIT University, uses nanotechnology to convert mechanical pressure into electricity. In the future, portable devices with touch screens, like iPads and iPhones, could be recharged through everyday activities like typing. Pacemakers could be powered by an individual wearer’s blood pressure.
