Therefore, its operation is the same either under water or on the ground. The key element that allows the device to store energy is a liquid metal alloy composed of gallium and indium.
A new device for storing energy
Said alloy is enclosed within a hydrogel made with a polymer that has great stability and is soft embedded in water.
The ions in the water within the hydrogel contain dissolved salts that assemble on the surface of the metal and can cause a change in the material to occur. By increasing the surface area of the metal, there is a greater amount of surface which can attract electric charge.
Then that electricity created by the material is captured by a wire the device is connected.
That its design is smooth is vital for its function as it allows any movement to deform the material, which makes it Very versatile in order to start the mechanical energy storage process.
Your Advantage: Collecting Energy Underwater
It is a very elastic material that can reach stretch up to five more times of its length in normal condition and without risk of breakage.
Several experiments were done to check the performance of the material. It was concluded that a deformation of just a few millimeters was more than enough to produce an amount close to the 0.5 mW of power.
Although initially it may not be a large quantity, the team of researchers assures that is a comparable measure to other energy harvesting technologies that have already been developed.
However, the great difference of this new technology that has been developed compared to any other similar that has been made previously is that it can work without any problem in humid places, unlike the rest that can only do it in dry environments.
At the moment, the team is working with the aim of improve device power.