Air-gen device makes electricity from air moisture

The laboratories of electrical engineer Jun Yao and microbiologist Derek Lovley at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) have created Air-gen with electrically conductive protein nanowires produced by the microbe Geobacter. The Air-gen connects electrodes to the protein nanowires in such a way that electrical current is generated from the water vapor naturally present in the atmosphere. The findings are published in Nature,

“We are literally making electricity out of thin air,” Yao said. “The Air-gen generates clean energy 24/7.”

The new technology developed in Yao’s lab is said to be non-polluting, renewable, low-cost and can generate power in areas with extremely low humidity.

The Air-gen device requires a thin film of protein nanowires less than 10 microns thick, the researchers said. The bottom of the film rests on an electrode, while a smaller electrode that covers only part of the nanowire film sits on top. The film adsorbs water vapour from the atmosphere. A combination of the electrical conductivity and surface chemistry of the protein nanowires, coupled with the fine pores between the nanowires within the film, establishes the conditions that generate an electrical current between the two electrodes.