Charge Cell Phones with Sound of Voice

Engineers in South Korea create a device that uses sound waves to generate electricity. Charge your cell phone by talking! A team of South Korean engineers led by Dr. Sang-Woo Kim at Sungkyunkwan University’s Institute of Nanotechnology have craeted a device that uses microscopic strands of zinc oxide placed between two electrodes that vibrate when subjected to sound waves and thus produce a charge.

In their search for new ways to collect energy from the environment, Kim and his team stumbled upon the idea of sound energy. "This motivated us to realize power generation by turning sound energy from speech, music or noise into electrical power… Sound power can be used for various novel applications including cellular phones that can be charged during conversations and sound-insulating walls near highways that generate electricity from the sound of passing vehicles."

Source: Energy Digital