UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Implantable biomedical devices — like pacemakers, insulin pumps and neurostimulators — are becoming smaller and utilizing wireless technology, but hurdles remain for powering the next-generation implants. A new wireless charging device developed by Penn State scientists could dramatically improve powering capability for implants while still being safe for our bodies, the researchers said.The new device can harvest energy from magnetic field and ultrasound sources simultaneously, converting this energy to electricity to power implants, the scientists reported in the journal Energy & Environmental Science. It is the first device to harvest these dual-energy sources simultaneously with high efficiency and operate within the safety limits for human tissue, the team said.

Selected as back cover of the journal "Energy & Environmental Science: (Impact Factor >32). Showcasing research from the team of Dr Sumanta Kumar Karan, Prof. Bed Poudel and Prof. Shashank Priya at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA. Magnetic field and ultrasound induced simultaneous wireless energy harvesting A novel dual energy harvesting technology using magnetic field and ultrasound-driven wireless energy transfer has been demonstrated to convert magnetic/acoustic energy into electricity using magnetoelectric (ME) devices. The millimeter scale ME device is capable of producing high power (>50 mW) in water/porcine tissue operating under safety limits, making it suitable for powering several IoT devices including implantable and embedded devices. 

The new device can harvest energy from magnetic field and ultrasound sources simultaneously, converting this energy to electricity to power implants, the scientists reported in the journal Energy & Environmental Science. It is the first device to harvest these dual-energy sources simultaneously with high efficiency and operate within the safety limits for human tissue. 

A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in Kolkata, the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and RWTH Aachen University, has found a type of piezoelectric molecular crystal that is capable of autonomous self-healing. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their work with piezoelectric molecular crystals and the crystals they grew that could heal themselves. 

The researchers at IISER, along with those at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur decided to focus on developing something that is harder than conventional self-healing material, as reported by The Telegraph India.

The researchers used a piezoelectric organic material, which converts mechanical energy to electrical energy and vice versa, to make needle-shaped crystals that aren't more than 2 mm long or 0.2 mm wide, according to the experimental results which were published in the journal Science.

From your backyard to inside a deep forest, spider webs pop up virtually everywhere. Such webs, which evolved primarily to catch prey, are made of a naturally-occurring silk. This silk polymer is much stronger than most artificial fibres including kevlar, the heat-resistant synthetic fibre used in bullet-proof vests.

An international research team has now used this property of spider silk to make tiny devices that can generate electricity with the help of simple pressure-inducing acts such as finger tapping, walking, swallowing, drinking or even gargling1. The researchers say that these devices can be used to turn on light-emitting diodes, power mobile displays and charge capacitors that run pacemakers.

An international research team has now used this property of spider silk to make tiny devices that can generate electricity with the help of simple pressure-inducing acts such as finger tapping, walking, swallowing, drinking or even gargling. The researchers say that these devices can be used to turn on light-emitting diodes, power mobile displays and charge 

Selected as Front cover picture in the prestigious journal "Advanced Energy Materials, Wiley"

In article number 1803027, Sandip Maiti, Sumanta Kumar Karan, Jin Kon Kim and Bhanu Bhusan Khatua discuss the effective approach using nature driven biodegradable and biocompatible piezo/triboelectric materials for green energy harvesting and its potential applications in futuristic smart electronics to avoid toxic, non-biodegradable material based electronics (e-) wastes. Hence, it is important to move forward towards bio-based nanogenerators to prevent damage to human health and the environment by polluted e-wastes. 

Advanced Science News, 24 Aug 2016

Selected as top five most accessed articles tin the month of July 2016

 A novel research by scientists at IIT-Kharagpur has shown the way to generate electricity from onion peel. Eateries saddled with bags of the waste product can now turn them into a power source - the skin of a single onion can light up 12 green LEDs.

Professor Bhanu Bhusan Khatua, his PhD scholar Sumanta Kuman Karan and their team at the Material Science Centre (MSC) have developed the green technology after a year-long research. The result has been tested and improved by scientists, led by Jin Kon Kim, and Sandip Maiti at Pohang University of Science and Technology (Postech), South Korea. The paper was published in the Nano Energy journal in October.

Now, peel onions and generate electricity! IITKgp will tell you how…