Scientists Discover Unlikely Source Of Electricity
"The impact of this discovery in the field of biological piezoelectricity will be huge ..."By Tracy Mastaler
on October 6, 2017 at 8:35amScientists have discovered a way to produce electricity from human tears and saliva, which could — if harvested effectively — become a new fuel for implanted medical devices.The finding came when researchers in Ireland from the University of Limerick’s Bernal Institute applied pressure to lysozyme, a protein found in both tears and saliva.The team’s groundbreaking report was published in the October 2, 2017, issue of the scientific journal Applied Physics Letters.Researchers made the discovery after applying pressure to a film of lysozyme crystals squeezed between two glass slides.The team was able to detect and measure the production of piezoelectricity, a form of energy in which an electric charge accumulates in response to pressure.Although piezoelectricity has been known and understood for years, the process has been applied to materials…
on October 6, 2017 at 8:35amScientists have discovered a way to produce electricity from human tears and saliva, which could — if harvested effectively — become a new fuel for implanted medical devices.The finding came when researchers in Ireland from the University of Limerick’s Bernal Institute applied pressure to lysozyme, a protein found in both tears and saliva.The team’s groundbreaking report was published in the October 2, 2017, issue of the scientific journal Applied Physics Letters.Researchers made the discovery after applying pressure to a film of lysozyme crystals squeezed between two glass slides.The team was able to detect and measure the production of piezoelectricity, a form of energy in which an electric charge accumulates in response to pressure.Although piezoelectricity has been known and understood for years, the process has been applied to materials…