The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) presented an interesting discovery last year centered on the fact that when water droplets, during condensation, jump away from water-repellent surfaces, they can be charged with electricity.
The research team that made this discovery has gone a step further by demonstrating that this charge could be used to supply power to electronic devices, that is, the humidity in the air could recharge our mobile battery.
The first prototype has already been made, a series of interspersed conductive metal plates (copper, aluminum…). Researchers have calculated, for example, that with one microwatt per square centimeter, a cube measuring about 50 centimeters on a side could be enough to fully charge a mobile phone in about 12 hours.
Are we facing the next technological as well as social and economic revolution? Will developing countries be able to access a cheap source of energy based on nature in this way?