Research – Charge your smartphone by simply holding it

Battery has always been the neglected necessity when it comes to smartphones. With all the hassle of running out of power when you need it most, what if you could charge your smartphone just by simply holding it?

Phys.org reports that a new device called single-fraction Surface Triboelectric Generator or STEG for short, proves that the idea of charging your phone just by holding it is likely to happen in the near future. This was explained by researchers over at Peking University in Beijing, China.

For a little look back on our science class, electrodes are basically things that can conduct electricity; and what researchers did was to create STEG (the small, portable generator) that uses the body as an electrode.

How it works is they replaced the grounded electrode which they previously used on generators with a new body contact electrode. Using the triboelectric effect, which is simply the process of certain materials having tension to produce an electric charge, the STEG then collects energy that are currently capable of charging low-power portable devices.

To cover the smartphone, a flexible, transparent layer of STEG composite material was placed on the screen; while the body contact electrode was on the back or the sides of the phone. Thru patting and tapping the device, electrons are exchanged between the human skin and STEG material.

“After repeated patting/tapping, electric charge moves back and forth between the induction electrode and the charged skin.”

The researchers see the potential of experimenting more on the STEG as they could still improve its output, according to reports. They see it as something that could definitely be used over time and maybe even become the future of charging.

As of now, most of us are still stuck to wired charging, but at least we now know that it might not stay that way in the coming years. I personally look forward to the age where our gadgets won’t be having problems running out of battery.

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Kevin Bruce Francisco

Kevin Bruce Francisco is the Senior Editor and Video Producer for YugaTech. He's a Digital Filmmaking graduate who's always either daydreaming of traveling or actually going places on his bike. Follow him on Twitter for more tech updates @kevincofrancis.