Carbon nanotube ‘twistrons’ harvest mechanical energy to generate electricity

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Novel carbon nanotube yarns that convert mechanical movement into electricity more effectively than other material-based energy harvesters have been developed at The University of Texas at Dallas.

Twistrons, made from spun CNTs, convert mechanical movement into electricity. Scanning electron microscope images show how UT Dallas researchers made a new kind of twistron by intertwining three individual strands of spun carbon nanotube fibres to make a single yarn, similar to the way conventional yarns used in textiles are constructed. A previous version of a harvester (right) was made by coiling the CNT fibres. The scale bars indicate 100 micrometres
Twistrons, made from spun CNTs, convert mechanical movement into electricity. Scanning electron microscope images show how UT Dallas researchers made a new kind of twistron by intertwining three individual strands of spun carbon nanotube fibres to make a single yarn, similar to the way conventional yarns used in textiles are constructed. A previous version of a harvester (right) was made by coiling the CNT fibres. The scale bars indicate 100 micrometres - UT Dallas

In a study published in Nature Energy, UT Dallas researchers and their collaborators describe improvements to high-tech yarns dubbed ‘twistrons,’ which generate electricity when stretched or twisted.

According to UT Dallas, twistrons sewn into textiles can sense and harvest human motion; when deployed in salt water, twistrons harvest energy from the movement of ocean waves; and twistrons can even charge supercapacitors.

First described by UTD researchers in a study published in 2017 in Science, twistrons are constructed from carbon nanotubes (CNTs) that are twist-spun into high-strength, lightweight fibres, or yarns, into which electrolytes can be incorporated.

Previous versions of twistrons were highly elastic, which the researchers accomplished by introducing so much twist that the yarns coil like an overtwisted rubber band. Electricity is generated by the coiled yarns by repeatedly stretching and releasing them, or by twisting and untwisting them.

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In the new study, the research team intertwined three individual strands of spun carbon nanotube fibres to make a single yarn, similar to the way conventional yarns used in textiles are constructed.

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energy harvesting