Fluttering flags to harvest power looks promising to researchers
"Flutter-driven triboelectrification for harvesting wind energy," published this week in Nature Communications, is a study of note for those interested in what researchers are exploring as sources of clean and sustainable energy. The authors have various affiliations with Samsung Institute of Technology (SAIT), Seoul National University, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Samsung Electronics, Chonnam National University and Georgia Institute of Technology. Their generator uses contact electrification caused by the self-sustained oscillation of flags. The authors said that "flutter-driven triboelectric generation is a promising technology to drive electric devices in the outdoor environments in a sustainable manner." Translation: Power is obtained from the fluttering motion of a flag-like structure. Business Insider Australia's Chris Pash said, "The flutter-driven triboelectric generator is based on the principle of charge transfer when two materials are rubbed together, similar to when a balloon is rubbed against clothing and then sticks to a wall."