英國科學家首次成功用尿液給手機供電
Mobile phone owners could soon be able to give their batteries a boost with their own urine.
British scientists at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory have developed a way of using urine as a power source to generate electricity and claim to have created the world's first microbial fuel cells (MFC) powered mobile phone.
While many people might turn their noses up at the energy source, the researchers said that it is the 'ultimate waste product' and does not rely on the erratic nature of the wind or the sun.
The scientists shared their breakthrough in the Royal Society of Chemistry Journal of Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics.
Dr Ioannis Ieropoulos, an expert at harnessing power from unusual sources using microbial fuel cells at the University of West England, Bristol, which was also involved in the research, said the urine-powered phone is a 'world first'.
'No-one has harnessed power from urine so it’s an exciting discovery.
'Using the ultimate waste product as a source of power to produce electricity is about as eco as it gets.
'One product that we can be sure of an unending supply is our own urine.
'By harnessing this power as urine passes through a cascade of MFCs, we have managed to charge a Samsung mobile phone.
He believes that the reliability of the fuel source is a big selling point.
The scientists shared their breakthrough in the Royal Society of Chemistry Journal of Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics.
Dr Ioannis Ieropoulos, an expert at harnessing power from unusual sources using microbial fuel cells at the University of West England, Bristol, which was also involved in the research, said the urine-powered phone is a 'world first'.
'No-one has harnessed power from urine so it’s an exciting discovery.
'Using the ultimate waste product as a source of power to produce electricity is about as eco as it gets.
'One product that we can be sure of an unending supply is our own urine.
'By harnessing this power as urine passes through a cascade of MFCs, we have managed to charge a Samsung mobile phone.
He believes that the reliability of the fuel source is a big selling point.
Dr Ieropoulos said: 'Essentially, the electricity is a by-product of the microbes’ natural life cycle, so the more they eat things like urine, the more energy they generate and for longer periods of time.'
The electricity output of MFCs is relatively small and the researchers are currently only been able to store and accumulate low levels of energy into capacitors for short charge and discharge cycles.
However they claim that this is the first time that scientists have been able to directly charge the battery of a device such as a mobile phone and it should be seen as a significant breakthrough.
They believe that their research, which was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the Gates Foundation and the Technology Strategy Board, has the potential to be installed in bathrooms.
The scientists think that the technology could be installed into domestic bathrooms int he future to harness the urine and produce sufficient electricity to power showers and at least electric shavers.
Dr Ieropoulos said: 'We are currently bidding for funding to work alongside partners in the US and South Africa to develop a smart toilet. Watch this space.'用尿液給自己的手機電池充電？對此奇思妙想，你一定感到很詫異。
據英國《每日郵報》7月16日報道，英國布裏斯托爾機器人研究所的科學家們已經開發出一種用尿液發電的技術，且以此技術造出了世界上第一部用微生物燃料電池（MFC）供電的手機。
儘管很多人可能會對“尿液”能源源嗤之以鼻，但研究人員表示，這種能源是對“人體終極排泄物”的再利用，可不需再依賴風和陽光這些不穩定的能源。
揚尼斯•耶羅普洛斯博士是英國布裏斯托爾西英格蘭大學非常規能源利用領域的專家，他也參與了這項研究，他稱這部用尿液供電的手機是“世界第一”。“還從來沒有人用尿液當能源，所以這是一個令人興奮的發現。用人體的最終排泄物作爲能源來發電也非常環保，我們可以肯定我們的尿液是取之不盡的。用此技術，我們已經成功用微生物燃料電池爲一部三星手機充了電。”
他認爲，“尿液”能源可源源不斷供應是一大賣點。
這種能源的優點在於，我們可以不需依賴自然界的風和陽光這些不穩定能源，實際上，這是利用廢物創造能源。
“目前我們已經用微生物燃料電池產生了一些電力，可滿足手機發短信、瀏覽網頁和打個簡短的電話。”
不過，揚尼斯說，如果要長時間打電話，電力還遠遠不夠。“用手機打電話最耗電，但我們最終將能夠滿足手機長時間打電話的需求。”
“這項技術已經得到了檢驗，是有效的。我們現在要做的是進一步完善它，使我們可開發出能給手機充滿電的微生物燃料電池。”
微生物燃料電池其實就是一種能量轉換器，利用活的微生物的新陳代謝，將有機物直接轉換成電力。揚尼斯說：“從本質上說，電力只是微生物自然生命循環過程中的副產品，所以，它們‘吃’尿液之類的東西越多，產生的能量就越多。”
由於微生物燃料電池輸出的電力比較小，目前研究人員僅能在電容器中存儲很低的電量，所能達成的充放電週期也很短。
不過，科學家們稱這應被視爲重大突破。
這項研究由英國工程和物理科學研究委員會、蓋茨基金會和英國技術戰略委員會資助，科學家們認爲它將來有望用於衛生間。
利用尿液所產生的充足電力可供應衛生間的淋浴器和照明設備，或者至少是電動剃鬚刀。揚尼斯說：“我們打算和來自美國和南非的夥伴開發一種智能廁所，目前我們正在融資，大家可拭目以待。”
