Scientists believe they have created the first mobile phone to run on urine. Dr Ioannis Ieropoulos is pictured at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory holding a phone powered by a microbial fuel cell stack |
查看原文 Mobile phone owners could soon be able to give their batteries a boost with their own urine. British scientists at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory have developed a way of using urine as a power source to generate electricity and claim to have created the world's first microbial fuel cells (MFC) powered mobile phone. While many people might turn their noses up at the energy source, the researchers said that it is the 'ultimate waste product' and does not rely on the erratic nature of the wind or the sun. The scientists shared their breakthrough in the Royal Society of Chemistry Journal of Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. Dr Ioannis Ieropoulos, an expert at harnessing power from unusual sources using microbial fuel cells at the University of West England, Bristol, which was also involved in the research, said the urine-powered phone is a 'world first'. 'No-one has harnessed power from urine so it’s an exciting discovery. 'Using the ultimate waste product as a source of power to produce electricity is about as eco as it gets. 'One product that we can be sure of an unending supply is our own urine. 'By harnessing this power as urine passes through a cascade of MFCs, we have managed to charge a Samsung mobile phone. He believes that the reliability of the fuel source is a big selling point. The scientists shared their breakthrough in the Royal Society of Chemistry Journal of Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. Dr Ioannis Ieropoulos, an expert at harnessing power from unusual sources using microbial fuel cells at the University of West England, Bristol, which was also involved in the research, said the urine-powered phone is a 'world first'. 'No-one has harnessed power from urine so it’s an exciting discovery. 'Using the ultimate waste product as a source of power to produce electricity is about as eco as it gets. 'One product that we can be sure of an unending supply is our own urine. 'By harnessing this power as urine passes through a cascade of MFCs, we have managed to charge a Samsung mobile phone. He believes that the reliability of the fuel source is a big selling point. Dr Ieropoulos said: 'Essentially, the electricity is a by-product of the microbes’ natural life cycle, so the more they eat things like urine, the more energy they generate and for longer periods of time.' The electricity output of MFCs is relatively small and the researchers are currently only been able to store and accumulate low levels of energy into capacitors for short charge and discharge cycles. However they claim that this is the first time that scientists have been able to directly charge the battery of a device such as a mobile phone and it should be seen as a significant breakthrough. They believe that their research, which was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Gates Foundation and the Technology Strategy Board, has the potential to be installed in bathrooms. The scientists think that the technology could be installed into domestic bathrooms int he future to harness the urine and produce sufficient electricity to power showers and lighting...or at least electric shavers. Dr Ieropoulos said: 'We are currently bidding for funding to work alongside partners in the US and South Africa to develop a smart toilet. Watch this space.' |
用尿液給自己的手機(jī)電池充電?對(duì)此奇思妙想,你一定感到很詫異。 據(jù)英國(guó)《每日郵報(bào)》7月16日?qǐng)?bào)道,英國(guó)布里斯托爾機(jī)器人研究所的科學(xué)家們已經(jīng)開發(fā)出一種用尿液發(fā)電的技術(shù),且以此技術(shù)造出了世界上第一部用微生物燃料電池(MFC)供電的手機(jī)。 盡管很多人可能會(huì)對(duì)“尿液”能源源嗤之以鼻,但研究人員表示,這種能源是對(duì)“人體終極排泄物”的再利用,可不需再依賴風(fēng)和陽(yáng)光這些不穩(wěn)定的能源。 揚(yáng)尼斯?耶羅普洛斯博士是英國(guó)布里斯托爾西英格蘭大學(xué)非常規(guī)能源利用領(lǐng)域的專家,他也參與了這項(xiàng)研究,他稱這部用尿液供電的手機(jī)是“世界第一”?!斑€從來(lái)沒(méi)有人用尿液當(dāng)能源,所以這是一個(gè)令人興奮的發(fā)現(xiàn)。用人體的最終排泄物作為能源來(lái)發(fā)電也非常環(huán)保,我們可以肯定我們的尿液是取之不盡的。用此技術(shù),我們已經(jīng)成功用微生物燃料電池為一部三星手機(jī)充了電。” 他認(rèn)為,“尿液”能源可源源不斷供應(yīng)是一大賣點(diǎn)。 這種能源的優(yōu)點(diǎn)在于,我們可以不需依賴自然界的風(fēng)和陽(yáng)光這些不穩(wěn)定能源,實(shí)際上,這是利用廢物創(chuàng)造能源。 “目前我們已經(jīng)用微生物燃料電池產(chǎn)生了一些電力,可滿足手機(jī)發(fā)短信、瀏覽網(wǎng)頁(yè)和打個(gè)簡(jiǎn)短的電話?!?/p> 不過(guò),揚(yáng)尼斯說(shuō),如果要長(zhǎng)時(shí)間打電話,電力還遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不夠?!坝檬謾C(jī)打電話最耗電,但我們最終將能夠滿足手機(jī)長(zhǎng)時(shí)間打電話的需求?!?/p> “這項(xiàng)技術(shù)已經(jīng)得到了檢驗(yàn),是有效的。我們現(xiàn)在要做的是進(jìn)一步完善它,使我們可開發(fā)出能給手機(jī)充滿電的微生物燃料電池。” 微生物燃料電池其實(shí)就是一種能量轉(zhuǎn)換器,利用活的微生物的新陳代謝,將有機(jī)物直接轉(zhuǎn)換成電力。揚(yáng)尼斯說(shuō):“從本質(zhì)上說(shuō),電力只是微生物自然生命循環(huán)過(guò)程中的副產(chǎn)品,所以,它們‘吃’尿液之類的東西越多,產(chǎn)生的能量就越多。” 由于微生物燃料電池輸出的電力比較小,目前研究人員僅能在電容器中存儲(chǔ)很低的電量,所能達(dá)成的充放電周期也很短。 不過(guò),科學(xué)家們稱這應(yīng)被視為重大突破。 這項(xiàng)研究由英國(guó)工程和物理科學(xué)研究委員會(huì)、蓋茨基金會(huì)和英國(guó)技術(shù)戰(zhàn)略委員會(huì)資助,科學(xué)家們認(rèn)為它將來(lái)有望用于衛(wèi)生間。 利用尿液所產(chǎn)生的充足電力可供應(yīng)衛(wèi)生間的淋浴器和照明設(shè)備,或者至少是電動(dòng)剃須刀。揚(yáng)尼斯說(shuō):“我們打算和來(lái)自美國(guó)和南非的伙伴開發(fā)一種智能廁所,目前我們正在融資,大家可拭目以待。” 相關(guān)閱讀 【我的中國(guó)故事】在華外專的“最低生存挑戰(zhàn)” 埃及宣布對(duì)穆爾西進(jìn)行刑事調(diào)查 (翻譯:聞竹 編輯:Julie) |