A mere 10-minute stroll can generate adequate static electricity to fuel a battery-free water purifier, offering vital assistance during emergencies or in areas with scarce access to clean water and consistent power sources.
A simple bottle can purify drinking water by harnessing static electricity accumulated from just 10 minutes of walking – no need for limited supplies of water purification tablets or external power sources.
“Our method for water disinfection holds significant promise for communities in developing regions, remote locales, disaster zones, and conflict areas where sanitation infrastructure is lacking,” explains Sang-Woo Kim of Yonsei University in South Korea.
Kim and his team modified a reusable 500-milliliter water bottle with a polymer electrode featuring an array of nanorods made from the conducting polymer Polypyrrole. These nanorods concentrate the electrostatic charges generated by the human body during walking to generate electric fields potent enough to eliminate or neutralize bacteria and viruses.
A small piece of aluminum foil affixed to the bottle’s exterior serves as a contact point for gripping while also collecting static electricity from the user’s hand, which then travels through a copper wire to reach the electrode inside the bottle.
Tests demonstrate that this walking-powered technique can thoroughly disinfect river water containing bacteria and viruses within a 10-minute timeframe – sometimes even faster if the user increases their walking speed.
