You could soon charge your mobile phones as you talk if a new technology that turns sound into electricity comes into being.
The technology, developed by the South Korean electrical engineers, allows a mobile to be powered up as its user hold a conversation or through the background noise and even music.
Dr Sang-Woo Kim, who has been developing the design at the Institute of Nanotechnology at Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, said: “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.”
For this, the scientists used zinc oxide sandwiched between two electrodes. A sound absorbing pad on top vibrates when sound waves hit it, causing the tiny zinc oxide wires to compress and release. This movement generates an electrical current that can then be used to charge a battery.
Labelled by a one report as “most irritating innovation”, this technology, once implemented, may even result in people talking loudly over their phones to charge the devices!