Is This Accidental Discovery The Future Of Energy?

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[bradycrowson]

hey matt I think it would be really cool if you made a series where you go back through some of your older videos and show us where the technology is today and how it played out after the time of posting!

[cataclysmicnothing]

If you get elecitricity from humidity, then wouldn't it be from _thick_ air instead of thin air?

[jenniferheyden]

I think one use that could be helpful is turning on vent fans. Many people forget (I do) to turn on the vent after a shower. A power source that only works in humidity could turn on the fan when humidity is high and "run out of juice" as it vents the air out. Might take some tricky calibration but once done could have a lasting impact on reducing mold, mildew etc in certain environments.

[Tarkov.]

I'd be interested to see if they can apply older silicon lithography to make these, since 100nm is huge compared to the 10nm process most manufacturers are currently running.

[MaladjustedPlatypus]

The main concern I have whenever I see things based on microstructure-based surfaces is how viable can it really be in daily use? Wouldn't those structures quickly be contaminated by dust and debris? Could they be cleaned without damaging the structures? Can they be handled without the structures being crushed? Longevity seems like a real issue here.

[kensmith]

The real question is "where is the energy actually coming from?". It could be that you are eroding the device in some way so that the energy ultimately came from the energy that went into making the device. At some point the thing stops working.

[rohitraghunathan]

From a purely thermodynamic perspective, it feels hard to believe that any amount of energy can be generated from moisture. This feels suspiciously close to some perpetual motion/ eergy schemes

[mgalyean]

It will be interesting to see how they keep the device from clogging, fouling, and reacting with various airborne non-H2O molecules found in ambient air

[Santibag]

If it's condensing water vapor while extracting latent heat, it can be used as as self-sustaining dehumidifier. Some of the generated power can be used for powering a fan to mix the air in the room.

Of course, this also means that it requires a filter to prevent clogs. So, it needs a built-in air purifier.

If it condenses air, this also means that it is a water generator. Can be used for some water needs, like cleaning.

[johnapppel]

The prospect of being able to use biological materials is pretty intriguing. Imagine being able to grow the battery films in a bioreactor. Solarpunk writers, take note!

[pauljs]

Even if the power production from such a thing may be limited, it may be interesting for desiccant applications. Depends on how well it relocates or sequesters the moisture it pulls from the air. Even something as odd as dehumidifier that can run a light or recharge a phone may be handy too, could still be handy in a basement where there's no daylight if the power goes out and it would also keep the mold or mildew in check by taking humidity out of the air.

[Old_BMWs]

This reminds me of the water powered digital watch I had when I was a kid - you'd run it under the sink to fill up the little tubes with water, and it would run and evaporate the water over the course of a day or two. I don't know the mechanism these used, just a cool gadget.

[Ithirahad]

If you brought one of these things to Florida, I'd be worried about internal arcing. There are so many water molecules "moshing around" in the air here that I'm sometimes unsure if I'm actually breathing air or just exceptionally well-oxygenated fresh water.

[PanTheHermit]

I think it's a similar story to arm processors, they forgot to plug it in and the chip was still operating, or something like that, same as penicillin and I think pasteurisation all discovered by happy accidents. I guess its a kind of thinking outside of the box by accident. Great video Matt, perfectly under hyped to still leave room for expected emotions.

[MauroTamm]

If a small unit could power a LED - it could be made into self powering LED bulbs.

You need just a few W for efficient ones with enough light output.

Homes, sheds, greenhouses or streetlights.

[besknighter]

I'd love to see this actually working and becoming a viable alternative. Does it removes the humidity of the air? How does it keep the humidity gradient between electrodes outside through the outside of nanostructure? What would be the minimum operational humidity? I used to live in a city where the yearly average hovered around 30%, I guess that is too low to be useful? So many questions 😅

[stevenkies]

This would be great paired with solar power since the overcast days that block the sun are faily humid.

[jimparrUtube]

Matt, I am rather confused. Is it a generator or battery - or both?

As an electronics Engineer (retired) I am finding it difficult wrap my head around this concept. Methinks a storage mechanism is needed in addition to the generation mechanism to work effectively.
Or am I wrong? Would love to know.

We do NOT use resistor dropping to convert from one voltage to another, and have not for many years unless the discarded power is minimal and irrelevant to any design. Instead we use Switch-Mode-Power-Convertors to step up or down. Typical efficiencies now normally exceed over 93% for such inverters.

Will do some browsing to see what turns up to hopefully answer my own question/s above.

[nerdlingeeksly]

Tropical countries are going to be swimming in electricity

[mkctao]

My dad had an indoor swimming pool and he has to do a ton of work (opening the doors and windows, adjusting the settings, it may not seem like much but it's a good 15-30 min a day) to keep the dehumidifier from working overtime cause it's a 4000W device. He even went as far as buying a secondary dehumidifier to use when it's not hot enough to open the doors all day and not humid enough to activate the monster. If a device like this would even generate only a single Watt but dehumidify well, he would still bulk buy it and replace our current dehumidifiers with this. This could have tons of applications in spaces where you need to remove humidity.