Strategic Elements generates electricity from moisture

Printable electronics developer Australian Advanced Materials, a company owned by investment house Strategic Elements, has reported ‘rapid technological progress’ in manufacturing a printed device generating electricity from moisture in the air (pictured).

AAM, working in partnership with the University of New South Wales, CSIRO and researcher VTT group in Finland has developed and tested a single 100 square centimetre-sized printed Energy Ink cell that generated more than 1,400 mAh of electrical charge.

The company said its Nanocube Memory Ink is a revolutionary printable memory technology based on a transparent ink that can be printed onto surfaces such as plastic, glass and silicon.

The ink ‘harvests electricity from moisture’.

A statement from Strategic Elements did not describe how this was achieved, and details are sparse on Australian Advanced Materials’ website.

The statement said: “The Energy Ink is still in early development, and the fundamental upper limit of aspects such as maximum power output, duration and energy density remains unknown.

“Significantly, the team continues to identify multiple avenues that increase performance.”

To date development has focused on 36 square centimetre battery cells that could provide enough power for an electronic skin patch.

“The team is currently implementing and validating multiple technology breakthroughs into a world-first prototype battery pack with the goal to generate amp hour range of electrical charge solely from moisture in the air.

“…Development and testing are near completion.”

Picture: Australian Advanced Materials