Power Felt can convert heat into an electrical current

Developed by researchers at the Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials at Wake Forest University, Power Felt is comprised of carbon nanotubes locked in flexible plastic fibres and made to feel like fabric. The technology uses temperature differences — room temperature versus body temperature, for instance — to create a charge.

The team’s research appears in the current issue of Nano Letters.

‘We waste a lot of energy in the form of heat. For example, recapturing a car’s energy waste could help improve fuel mileage and power the radio, air conditioning or navigation system,’ said researcher and Wake Forest graduate student Corey Hewitt. ‘Generally, thermoelectrics are an underdeveloped technology for harvesting energy, yet there is so much opportunity.’

Potential uses for Power Felt include lining seats in vehicles to boost battery power and service electrical needs, insulating pipes or collecting heat under roof tiles to lower gas or electric bills, lining clothing or sports equipment to monitor performance, or wrapping intravenous or wound sites to better track patients’ medical needs.