Institute of virology, Institute

These new ways of producing energy can be employed in household environments to support the concept of decentralisation of energy sources.The researchers employed the nanoscale phenomenon called 'Electrokinetic streaming potential' to harvest energy from flowing water on the small length scale like water flowing through household water taps.Similarly, the 'Contrasting Interfacial Activities' different types of semiconducting materials were employed to generate power from stagnant water, according to the study published in ACS Applied Nanomaterials.The impending energy crisis that has arisen from the dual problems of dwindling fossil fuel reserves and environmental issues associated with the use of such fuel, has led to considerable research in alternative energy sources such as light, heat, wind, ocean waves, etc.The generation of energy from water in various forms - river flow, ocean tides, stagnant water, and even raindrops, is now known as 'blue energy'.While hydroelectric power from rivers is the traditional form of blue energy, there have been efforts to harness the power of water in other ways in recent years."When fluids stream through tiny channels that are charged, they can generate an electrical voltage, which may be harnessed through miniaturised generators", said study researcher Dr. Kalyan Raidongia, Department of Chemistry, IIT Guwahati.Although the exploration of such electrokinetic phenomena and their possible use for energy conversion have been known for more than half a century, they have not been harnessed because of low efficiency arising from the unsuitability of channels for the fluid stream.The humble efficiency of electrokinetic streaming potential based energy generating devices is attributed to the trade-off between high flow-rate and nanofluidic confinement.The researchers demonstrated that power output can be improved by thousand times by attaining the best out of these parameters through biconical nanofluidic channels that interconnect tetrahedral and octahedral voids in the close-packed silica spheres.Enhancement in the power density can be brought about through control of multiple parameters such as the diameter of the close-packed spheres, number of the spheres, the contact area of the electrodes, and pH of the streaming water, and the team is currently involved in such optimization efforts.In order to extract power from stagnant water, devices were fabricated by employing doped graphene flakes, the Institute said in a statement.The complementary charge transfer activities of doped graphene flakes based devices generate power just upon dipping in any kind of water source, like lake, river or seawater.( With inputs from IANS )

Institute Of VirologyFOLLOW

Institute of virology, Latest News

A German virologist said on Thursday there was still no breakthrough for early coronavirus tests and warned that existing methods could show wrong results. ...

Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) on Friday said its new study shows that concrete made from clay fly ash, and limestone hold promise as replacements for cement. ...

City-based premier Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has declared a 15-day lockdown on the campus to prevent the spread of coronavirus. ...

Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IIT-H) on Wednesday said its researchers have found a molecule called 'AIM4' that shows promise in the treatment of a rare and debilitating neurodegenerative disease called 'Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis'(ALS ...

The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) faculty are offering affordable courses on data science through their platform 'PadhAI', it said on Tuesday. ...

The world's largest meditation centre of its kind, which can accommodate 100,000 people at a time, is all set to be inaugurated on January 28 in the global headquarters of Heartfulness on the outskirts of Hyderabad. ...

Philippine authorities were on high alert on Tuesday for a possible eruption of the Taal volcano, which has continued spewing lava and plumes of smoke and forced the evacuation of more than 30,000 people. ...

Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-G) on Monday said its researchers have developed materials that can produce energy from water, on a small scale. ...