CAPTURING ELECTRICITY FROM ATMOSPHERE

It may sound impossible but capturing electricity from the air could be a
really good alternative energy source for the future. The idea is not just a
pie in the sky but just like the solar energy which is being used now a
days, the energy from the atmosphere can also be thought to be a great
source of electrical energy. It may be possible to develop collectors,
similar to the solar cells that collect the sunlight to produce electricity, to
capture hygroelectricity and route it to homes and businesses. Just as
solar energy could free some households from paying electric bills, this
promising new energy source could have a similar effect. Just as solar
cells work best in sunny areas of the world, hygroelectrical panels would
work more efficiently in areas with high humidity, such as the
northeastern and southeastern United States and the humid tropics.
Electricity captured from the air is also known as hygroelectricity.

Need for Renewable Energy

Humans can be curious creatures. They can be amazingly ingenious and

creative, capable of putting a man on the moon or building huge and
magnificent temples. And yet, when it comes time for their own survival,
they can be slow to act and display, at times, a complete head-in-the-sand
posture. And so it has been with the world’s energy crises, which
continues to grow by leaps and bounds. The response by the civilized
world to the impending disaster has been largely to ignore it, hoping it will
simply go away. Unfortunately, the problem won’t go away, and is
increasingly banging at humanity’s door, demanding attention. The good
news is that humans may be finally getting the message and looking at
ways to turn around a disastrous trend of burning diminishing fossil fuels,
which may fuel the planet now, but cannot be maintained indefinitely. And
burning them only ads to the heavy environmental toll they have taken on
the planet.

The End Of Fossil Fuel

Oil, natural gas and coal are set to peak and go into decline within the
next decade, and no technology can change that. Peaking is a simple
concept. We generally exploit natural resources in a bell-shaped curve,
with the rate of extraction increasing over time until we reach a peak and
then gradually slowing down until we stop using them.

Peak oil is not about "running out of oil"; it's about reaching the peak rate
of oil production. It's not the size of the tank that matters, but the size of
the tap.
Global Population
The future population growth of the world is difficult to predict. Birth rates
and death rates can change drastically over the course of time. The
United States Census Bureau issued a revised forecast for world
population that increased its projection for the year 2050 to above 9.4
billion people (which was the United Nation’s 1996 projection for 2050),
up from 9.1 billion people. A new U.S. Census Bureau revision from June
18, 2008 has increased its projections further, to beyond 9.5 billion in
2050.

Demand for Energy

And that could only mean a greater need for energy sources, which lately
have been fossil fuels. The demand for fossil fuels has been on the rise for
decades. Since the advent of the industrial revolution, the worldwide
energy consumption has been growing steadily. The 20th century saw a
rapid twentyfold increase in the use of fossil fuels — first coal, then oil and
gas. Between 1980 and 2004, the worldwide annual growth rate was two
per cent. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s
breakdown of total energy consumption of 2004, fossil fuels supplied 86
per cent of the world’s energy. Consumption rates can’t continue without
cataclysmic results. In one scenario, a disaster triggered by the growing
population’s demand for scarce resources will eventually lead to a sudden
population crash, or even a Malthusian catastrophe (food shortage).

Global Warming
Burning fossil fuels creates another grave problem: global warming.
Is it really happening? Some argue that it is not but that is the head-in-
the-sand attitude. Some experts point out the natural cycles in Earth's
orbit can alter the planet's exposure to sunlight, which may explain the
current trend. Earth has indeed experienced warming and cooling cycles
roughly every hundred thousand years due to these orbital shifts, but
such changes have occurred over the span of several centuries. Today’s
changes have taken place over the past 100 years or less.

Conclusion
Considering all these we can conclude that there is a need to discover
alternative sources of energy which can meet our growing need of energy
in the future completely. "Renewable energy could provide all global
energy needs by 2090," according to the study, entitled "Energy
(R)evolution." EREC represents renewable energy industries and trade and
research associations in Europe. With solar power looking the only reliable
energy source in the future we have to look out for every other
alternatives.

Hygro-electricity- the basic principle

The basic principle lies in exploiting the fact that any metal placed in a
humid environment develops charge on its surface depending upon the
nature of the metal , exposure time, surface area etc. Actually adsorption
of water molecules takes place on the surface which is ionized due to the
acidic or basic nature of the metal surface. The amount of charge
deposited rises steeply with the increase in humidity which is in contrast
to our earlier understanding of the phenomenon.

Eletroneutrality principle
Scientists once believed that water droplets in the atmosphere were
electrically neutral, and remained so even after coming into contact with
the electrical charges on dust particles and droplets of other liquids.This is
known as the principle of electroneutrality. But new evidence suggested
that water in the atmosphere really does pick up an electrical charge.This
study was not a challenge to the principle of electroneutrality but
suggested that water has ion imbalances that could allow it to produce a
charge. The principle of electroneutrality states that if you consider the
liquid as a whole that the net charge within the liquid will be neutral . The
principle does not state that if you subdivide a liquid and only consider a
portion of its volume that the charge in that portion has to be neutral.

Evidences towards the new idea

It was observed that sparks of static electricity were formed as steam
escaped from boilers. Those who touched the steam even got painful
electrical shocks. Experiments were carried out and tiny particles of silica
and aluminum phosphate, both common airborne substances, were
humidity and aluminum phosphate became more positively charged. Silica
or phosphate particles almost certainly have surface charges due to
unsatisfied ionic valences at the particle surface. These surfaces are not
chemically innocent. In contact with water, they’ll react and split the
water into hydroxide (silica) and hydronium (phosphate). The silica
particle can become negatively charged thereby, and the aluminum
phosphate positively charged. The evidences made it clear that water in
the atmosphere can accumulate electrical charges and transfer them to
other materials it comes into contact with .
Gameblack’s report

The scientists, from Brazil’s University of Campinas, presented their

research Aug. 25 at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical
Society (ACS) in Boston.
“If we know how electricity builds up and spreads in the atmosphere, we
can also prevent death and damage caused by lightning strikes,” said Dr.
Fernando Galembeck of the University of Campinas, who led the study, in
a press release. His team of researchers, who are testing metals to find
those that work best in capturing hygroelectricity, envisions placing
hygroelectric panels on tops of buildings to remove electric charges in the
atmosphere of areas with frequent thunderstorms. In 2009, Dr. Kate
Ovchinnikova and Dr. Gerald Pollack of the University of Washington
published a paper, confirming that water can store electrical charges.
Now, Galembeck’s research provides further evidence suggesting that
water droplets in the atmosphere can pick up the charges. “Starting in
1997, my students have been acquiring much information from electron
and scanning probe microscopy, revealing unexpected patterns of electric
charge distribution on the surfaces of insulators that I (and everyone else,
I think) thought to be electroneutral,” Galembeck told The Epoch Times.
“This forced me to review many questions in electrostatics, especially the
nature and identity of charge-bearing species. Then, I found statements
by distinguished authors in leading journals saying that there are too
many knowledge gaps, in this area. After reviewing much recent and old
literature (including Schrodinger's doctoral thesis), I started to build and
test a model for explaining charge build up on solids and liquids, based on
selective adsorption of ions derived from water (OH- and H+).”“These are
fascinating ideas that new studies by ourselves and by other scientific
teams suggest are now possible,” Galembeck said. “We certainly have a
long way to go. But the benefits in the long range of harnessing
hygroelectricity could be substantial.”

Mechanism
Isolated metals within Faraday cages spontaneously acquire charge at
relative humidity above 50%: aluminum and chrome-plated brass
become negative, stainless steel is rendered positive, and copper
remains almost neutral. Isolated metal charging within shielded and
grounded containers confirms that the atmosphere is an electric charge
reservoir where OH−and H+ ions transfer to gas−solid interfaces,
producing net current. The electricity buildup dependence on humidity,
or hygroelectricity, acts simultaneously but in opposition to the well-
known charge dissipation due to the increase in surface conductance of
solids under high humidity. Acknowledging this dual role of humidity
improves the reproducibility of electrostatic experiments.

Behavior of dielectrics
The electrostatic behavior of dielectrics is not well understood, and this is
largely due to a lack of consensus on the nature of species responsible for
electrostatic charge buildup and dissipation. Recent publications provide
evidence for the participation of ions and electrons in electrostatic
charging under various conditions. The effect of relative humidity (RH) on
charge buildup and dissipation in dielectrics has been evidenced in recent
papers from this laboratory with an intriguing result: in many systems,
charging is faster under high RH than in dry environments. This is in
apparent conflict with common knowledge, according to which low
humidity is conducive to the appearance of static electricity.

The effectiveness of high humidity to eliminate static charging from

dielectrics is assigned in the literature to high surface
conductance through thick adsorbed water layers, but this widespread
argument cannot explain the faster charge buildup under high humidity
that has been observed in many systems studied under well-defined
conditions.

Experimental facts
This work shows that the exposure of isolated metal samples to water
vapor leads to charge buildup on the metal and presents an explanation
based on water ion partitioning at the air−solid interface. The water vapor
effect on metal charging was first observed in this laboratory during
Faraday cup measurements to determine the charge on insulators. Charge
measurements were in turn made to verify observations made in the
Kelvin probe scanning microscope, showing a marked effect of RH on the
ubiquitous charge distribution patterns observed on dielectrics and
metals.

There are reports in the literature showing that the corrosion potential of
metals changes when the surrounding humidity increases. However,
changing air pressure and humidity cause a small flow of current (10−13 A)
to and from a gold-plated brass electrode surface, which was assigned to
a Nernst voltage change due to metal ions dissolving in the water layer at
the metal surface. However, neither case is currently clearly understood.

Results and Discussion

The electric charge on any isolated metal sample should remain equal to
zero after the sample is grounded, as long as it is kept shielded from
external fields except those due to exposure to high-energy ionizing
radiation. In this case, charge builds up in the isolated metal, as in the
Faraday cups used as radiation and electron detectors.
When the metal sample is made out of brass (average composition: Cu
64.1%, Zn 35.9%, determined by X-ray fluorescence) or electrolytic
copper mounted within but electrically isolated from an outer, grounded,
hollow chrome-plated brass (CPB) cylinder. Figure S1, the charge drifts
slowly to negative values, independent of RH. Changing the RH does not
significantly change the rate of charge change, and this is highly
reproducible, as shown in Figure.

Figure 1. RH, charge per area, and charge change rate vs time plots for a
brass cylinder during dry−wet−dry N2 cycles.

Different behavior is observed when the sample is a hollow cylinder made

out of aluminum, stainless steel (SS), or CPB or when it is an SS screen.
Under low humidity, charge drifts slowly as in the case of copper and
brass, but as the humidity is increased, the charge changes significantly.

CPB and aluminum cylinders acquire negative charge as RH increases, as

shown in Figure 2 and SI Figure S3. SS shows the opposite behavior
(Figure S4): as the RH increases, a positive charge increase is observed. In
every case, successive experiments yield reproducible measurements
that are an uncommon feature of electrostatic experiments.

Figure 2. RH, charge per area, and charge change rate vs time plots for a
CPB cylinder during dry−wet−dry N2 cycles.

Rates of charge change thus vary pronouncedly with RH and the nature of
the metal sample, as shown in SI Figure S5.

All these results point toward a connection between metal charging and
water vapor adsorption. This assumption was verified by coating the
aluminum and SS cylinders with silicone oil, which delays water vapor
contact with the metal surface. Charge accumulation on coated metal is
then negligible up to RH = 95%.

These observations raise the possibility of producing electricity by

charging metals under high humidity, which was verified by building a
simple device made of stacked sheets of filter paper, aluminum, filter
paper, SS, and filter paper in this order. These stacks or “piles” are just
capacitors with some singular features: electrodes are made out of two
metals that are always coated with oxides showing different adsorptive
abilities, separated by a porous dielectric with a high capacity to absorb
water vapor. They were mounted within a closed aluminum box that was
grounded and kept within a Faraday cage, and the two electrodes were
connected to an electrometer. The voltage between the two metal sheets
increases steeply when the humidity increases, and it tends to level off on
charged electrodes, as shown in Figure 3, to be dissipated when
electrodes are short-circuited (SI Figure S6). Charging and electrode short-
circuiting are repeated many times, with good reproducibility and without
any evidence of an irreversible change.
Figure 3. Charge−discharge cycles of the capacitor formed by two metal
sheets (aluminum and SS) separated by a sheet of cellulose and enclosed
within two cellulose sheets, within a humid N2 atmosphere.

Charge buildup on metals under high humidity, as described in this work,

is a novel example of electrostatic charging at the solid−gas interface,
and it can be understood by making an analogy to the well-known
behavior of solid surfaces within liquid water: they always acquire charge
by some mechanism such as specific ion adsorption or ionizable group
dissociation.

Aluminum, chromium, and SS acquire charge under high humidity and are
well known for their resistance to oxidation, which is due to the coating
metal oxides that protect the highly reactive metals in the bulk from the
atmosphere. Water vapor adsorbs in the oxide layers, causing a number
of structural changes.
Al and Cr oxides are amphoteric, reacting with acids and bases. Aluminum
oxides on metal contain OH and O sites with Bronsted /Lewis acid−base
properties that are fairly independent of the oxidation procedure, but dry
aluminum oxide usually shows marked acidic character. Hydroxyl groups
in mixed chromium−aluminum oxides prepared by the sol−gel technique
to be used as catalysts show the opposite acid−base behavior: chromium
oxide sites are acidic , but aluminum oxide sites are basic. This means
that when the two oxides are formed together, H+ binds preferentially to
Cr oxide but Al oxide rather collects hydroxyl ions from the aqueous
medium. Water itself is amphoteric, acting as an acid or a base, under
various conditions.

An explanation of charge buildup on metals can thus be presented as

follows: adsorbed water molecules contribute OH− or H+ ions to the oxide-
coated metal surface, depending on its nature and state and thus
imparting excess overall charge to the isolated metal. According to this
view, metal charging under high humidity is the outcome of one or more
concurrent acid−base surface reactions, for instance,
where S represents
surface sites and the H or OH ions formed are released to the
+ −

atmosphere, bound to desorbed water molecule clusters.

H+ or OH− ions derived from adsorbed water may also pre-exist in the gas
phase as ionic water clusters. Whenever the ion concentration in the gas
phase is significant, their adsorption should also contribute charge to the
metal, but in the present case, the atmosphere is contained within a
grounded box where gas-phase ions can be discharged.

Thus, the adsorption and desorption of water carries charge to and from
the metal surface, depending on the acid−base nature of its oxide layer,
imparting positive or negative charge to the metal. Unfortunately, the
current status of knowledge on the structure and especially on the specific
acid−base properties is still insufficient to establish a detailed correlation
between charge buildup and the metal surface structure. This was
recently acknowledged as follows: “the structure of the first water layer in
contact with the surface, including the possibility of dissociation into OH
and H groups, remain largely unanswered”.
These results strengthen the role of atmospheric water as a charge
reservoir for solids, which was initially proposed only for dielectrics but is
now extended to metals. A schematic description of the charge exchange
mechanism is in Scheme 1.

Scheme 1. Mechanism for Charge Transfer from the Atmosphere

to the Metal Surfacea

a
(Top) Formation of positive charge over a basic oxide. (Bottom)
Formation of negative charge over an acidic oxide. Neutral water
molecules are amphoteric, reacting differently with different oxides
according to their acid−base properties.

Water and water ions are ubiquitous: water fits into many crystalline
structures, it solvates positive and negative ions, and it is soluble, albeit
to a limited extent, in nonpolar media. The difficulty of removing the last
traces of water from any solid surface at room temperature has long been
known, and traces of water in material surfaces and the bulk receive daily
attention from many experimenters, from high-vacuum users to
thermoplastics processors.

Acknowledging aqueous ion partitioning at interfaces and applying this

concept in other contexts may eventually help us to understand many
intriguing phenomena, from the “steam electricity” that received
attention from Faraday and Volta but was ultimately forgotten without
being understood to the formation and (in) stability of atmospheric
electricity.

Because all surfaces relevant to environmental problems are covered by

water forming thinner or thicker layers, it is certainly important to know
that the growth of adsorbed water layers on most surfaces contributes to
changing their electrical state.

Finally, the present results suggest a new approach to capturing

electricity from the atmosphere, an objective that has been eluding a
number of scientists and inventors. It is quite convenient that metals can
be used as traps for atmospheric charge because they can easily transfer
charge to devices and circuitry. However, the present findings may help to
design new protective measures for electrical circuits on every size scale.

Experimental details
Faraday cups consist of open-ended, hollow metal cylinders placed within
an outer CPB cylinder (20.0 cm length, 5.0 cm outer diameter (o.d.), and
0.05 cm wall thickness (w.t.)). Samples of 20.0 cm length, 3.8 cm o.d.,
and 0.16 cm w.t. (CPB: 0.05 cm w.t.; copper: 3.5 cm o.d., 0.07 cm w.t.)
were polished, washed with ethanol, and air dried, whereas the SS screen
(17.1 × 3.3 cm2, 400 mesh) and NiCr yarn (31.7819 g, 0.0825 cm ) were
washed with ethanol and air dried. Separation between cylinder walls was
0.57 cm (except for copper, 0.72 cm). Silicone-coated SS and aluminum
cylinders were also immersed in silicone oil, followed by allowing the
excess oil to drip off. Cylindrical samples and the outer cylinder were held
together (and isolated) by three polyethylene foam rings mounted
between the cylinders, as shown in Figure S1. The steel screen and NiCr
yarn are supported by a stick of polyethylene, which hangs from the top
end of the outer cylinder. This is grounded, and the isolated samples are
connected to the input of a Keithley 6514 electrometer. The setup is
vertically placed within a grounded aluminum box with fittings for gas
circulation and kept within a Faraday cage. RH is measured with a Minipa
MTH-1380 thermohygrometer connected to a PC. The metal samples are
initially grounded. After the connection to ground is removed, charge is
measured as a function of time, starting at RH ≈ 0. After 15 min under dry
N2, water-saturated nitrogen is admitted to the chamber for a specific
amount of time. Then, dry nitrogen is admitted again for 30−60 min, the
sample is grounded, and another dry−wet−dry N2 cycle is started.

Capacitors were built by using cellulose sheets (30.0 × 30.0 cm2, 0.20 mm
thick, 80 g m−2, 3 μ porosity) to separate and enclose 14 mesh Al and 400
mesh SS screens (25.0 × 25.0 cm2). The capacitance was 9.68 nF. The
stack was rolled and fastened with a rubber band and mounted within an
aluminum box, and the metal sheets were connected to the electrometer
in parallel with a 3.3 μF polyester capacitor.

Atmospheric lightning

Atmosphere can be considered as a large reservoir of charges. This was

proved by Benjamin Franklin by his famous kite and key experiment. The
idea was to fly the kite into the storm clouds and conduct electricity down
the kite string. A key was then attached near the bottom, to conduct the
electricity and create a charge. The kite was struck by lightning and, when
Franklin moved his hand towards the key, a spark jumped across and he
felt a shock, proving that lightning was electrical in nature. This huge
amount of charge if used in a right way can prove to be very beneficial. It
can serve electrical purposes. Materials are being tested in order to find
out the ones with greatest potential to capture atmospheric electricity.
Our approach could also be effective in reducing the devastating effect of
lightning and thunderstorm. In the atmospheric electrical discharge, a
leader bolt of lightning can travel at speeds of 36000km/hr and can reach
temperatures approaching to 30000 C. Such is the intensity of the
thunderstorm. By using this approach we may be able to channel this
huge amount of energy for the human usage. “If we know how electricity
builds up and spreads in the atmosphere, we can prevent death and
damage caused by lightning strikes,” Charge separation appears to
require strong updrafts which carry water droplets upward, supercooling
them to between -10 and -20 °C. These collide with ice crystals to form a
soft ice-water mixture called graupel. The collisions result in a slight
positive charge being transferred to ice crystals, and a slight negative
charge to the graupel. Updrafts drive the less heavy ice crystals upwards,
causing the cloud top to accumulate increasing positive charge. Gravity
causes the heavier negatively charged graupel to fall toward the middle
and lower portions of the cloud, building up an increasing negative
charge. Charge separation and accumulation continue until the electrical
potential becomes sufficient to initiate a lightning discharge, which occurs
when the distribution of positive and negative charges forms a sufficiently
strong electric field. his technology is not about harvesting the lightnings
themselves, they're talking about collecting the charge of charged air
collecting this doesn't require a lightning to struck, but would be a more
constant process, with a higher gain when the air is charged up like during
a lightning storm. Therefore it may result into protection from lightning
and thunderstorm which may otherwise cause a large damage to life and
property.

Application

Generating electricity from this charge requires conversion of the static

charge deposited on the metal surface into ambient electricity. We will
use the concept of hygropanels which would work just like the solar
panels except for the fact that the energy would be extracted from air
(humidity ) than the solar light.

Hygropanels
Basic constructional features

The device which we are calling hygropanel will be made of stacked

sheets of filter paper, aluminum, filter paper, Stainless steel, and filter
paper in this order. These stacks or “piles” are just capacitors with some
singular features. The two metal sheets would act like electrodes. These
electrodes will be connected by means of conducive wires made up of
silver. Other metals with better acidic/basic properties can also be used.
We have used filter paper because it is an excellent adsorber of humidity
and also a good dielectric.

Working
When the device is placed in a humid environment the alumunium metal
will be attacked by H2O and thereby an oxide layer will be formed on its
surface. Similarly stainless steel or chrome polished brass will also form
an oxide layer on its surface. While the alumunium oxide is acidic in
nature , the CPB or SS oxide is basic in nature. Thus alumunium oxide will
attract OH- ions and CPB or SS will attract H+ ions. Thus there will be a
charge deposition on both the surfaces opposite in nature creating a
potential difference between them. Since both the electrodes are
connected via conducive wires charge will flow from one electrode to the
other. The H+ or OH- ions released in the atmosphere due to the charge
deposition on the surfaces of the metals will combine with each other to
form neutral water molecule. The electricity produced by one conducive
wire may be in microscopic level but the panel would contain thousands of
piles of stacks of electrodes and they will all be connected in parallel and
thus there will be superposition of all the currents which can be of enough
to be of practical utilization.

Quantitative analysis
Experiments shows that a 5 cm area sheet can develop as much as 10-4
coulomb at relative humidity level greater than 60%. A stack of 10 cm
thickness can contain 200 sheets of the metal as aluminium is malleable
enough to be drawn into sheets of thickness 0.3-0.4mm.
A 1m2 area , 10 cm thick panel can thus contain n number of sheets
where n is given by

n=(100*100/5) *200*10
=4*105
Energy generated by one pair of sheets = 0.8(V)*10-5 (C/s) W

This multiplied by n gives an average 3.2 W of energy. This may be small

but can’t ruled out of future utility if researches are made in the the
development of this technology i.e. hygroelectric technology.

Cost analysis of the proposed hygropanels

We have calculated the approximate cost as given below:

The hygro panel taken is of 1m2 area 10 cm thick

Materials used where aluminium, stainless steel, filter paper, conducive

wires, etc.

Supposing 30% of the panel is made with aluminium and another 30% by
stainless steel, and the rest with filter paper, conducive wiring, etc.

Density of aluminium = 2700kg/m3

Hence amount of aluminium used = 2700/1*1*0.1*3 = 85 kg approx
Similarly density of stainless steel = 8000 kg/m3
Hence amount of SS used = 240 kg
Rates
Aluminium = Rs 70 per kg
SS = Rs 100 per kg
Total cost on metal = 70*85+240*100= Rs 29950
Extra cost on wiring panel and filter paper = Rs 10000
Total cost of hygropanel = Rs 39500 approx

Although in this amount of money we can have a 224 W solar

panel, but further researches and developments would for sure
bring down the cost per unit of electricity produced .

Efficiency
Talking of the efficiency , we don’t have any idea about the exact value
because it has never been practically implemented but it could be well
around 90% due to the static nature of the device.
Why to waste money on the development of this
technology than other renewable possible renewable
sources like using waste heat , using body electricity,
etc?
1. This technology is quite similar to the solar panels i.e. use of static
(not mobile) devices. In other methods where the small electricity
produces by mobile devices needs to be stored which does not
seems practical.
2. Unlike solar technology it doesn’t work only in day time.
3. The hygropanels can be monted on the roof tops quite easily.
4. Doesn’t involve any manual interference during its working.
5. Can be employed as a supplement to solar panels because the
working is quite similar to them.
6. It can prove to be very efficient in regions of high humidity levels
and less sunlight.
7. The metals used are aluminium and brass which are not much
costly.
8. It can act as an absorber of the atmospheric electricity formed
during a lightning because the phenomenon of charge deposition
on metals in high humidity levels looks like a solid answer to the age
old mystery of lightning process. Thus it may be very useful in
countries like Brazil where lightning is quite common.

Challenges
Although theoretically the technology may seem quite fascinating but
practical implementation may be not so easy and productive as it seems.
The major area of concern is the small amount of current produced. Also it
can only be used in areas of high humidity. A very important fact which
worries me is the possibility of development of reverse potential between
the electrodes due to the desorbed or the left out charges on the surface
of the metal.

Conclusion
The technology explained above if implemented will be challenged on a
number of practical grounds but that doesn’t concern me a lot because

“ THAT’S HOW SCIENCE WORKS”

Refrences

1. Schein, L. B. Science 2007, 316, 1572– 1573

[CrossRef], [PubMed], [ChemPort]
2. Crowley, J. M. Fundamentals of Applied Electrostatics; Laplacian
Press: Morgan Hill, CA,1999.
3. Bailey, A. G. J. Electrostat. 2001, 51, 82– 90
[CrossRef]
4. Liu, C.; Bard, A. J. Nat. Mater. 2008, 7, 505– 509
[CrossRef], [PubMed], [ChemPort]
5. P htz, T.; Herrmann, H. J.; Shinbrot, T. Nat. Phys. 2010, 6, 364– 368
[CrossRef]
6. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/la102494k#notes-1

7. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/la102494k#notes-1

8. http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/011530.html

9. http://ceramics.org/ceramictechtoday/materials-innovations/brazil-
groups-sees-hygroelectricity-as-new-renewable-power-source-
lightning-preventer/
Report on
Capturing
electricity from humidity

Su
bmitted by

Sajjad hussain

Neha gambhir

Anuradha kalia
Report on
Hygroelectr
icity

Su
bmitted by

Sajjad hussain

Neha gambhir