Scientific Breakthrough Could Lead to Voice-Powered Mobile Devices

As it stands now, using a mobile phone drains its battery. A new discovery could lead to phones that get charged whenever they are used.

Prof. Tahir Cagin of Texas A&M and his partners at the University of Houston have found an unusually efficient material that can convert pressure into energy. This piezoelectric substance is most efficient when exactly 21 nanometers thick, much thinner than a human hair.

This discovery has the potential to lead to small portable devices that can be at least partially charged by sound waves.

"Even the disturbances in the form of sound waves such as pressure waves in gases, liquids, and solids may be harvested for powering nano- and micro-devices of the future if these materials are processed and manufactured appropriately for this purpose," Cagin told ScienceDaily.

The professor did not say when devices employing this discovery will be commercially available.

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