Do you like working up a sweat? Or do you feel like maybe sweat should work for you? Well, hold on to your sudoriferous glands. Because researchers have designed a device that could someday produce power from your perspiration. The schvitzy scheme was presented at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco.
你喜欢出汗吗?你觉得汗水能为你做什么?嗯,你可要控制好你的汗腺了,因为研究人员已设计出一款将来能够利用你的汗水发电的设备。该schvity设计方案已于旧金山的年度美国化学学会中提出。
Strenuous exercise generates lactate—the molecule that makes overworked muscles burn. Athletes sometimes evaluate their fitness by checking the lactate levels in their blood. To reduce blood draws, researchers came up with a monitor that could measure the lactate in sweat. The device they designed strips electrons from lactate, which creates a small electric current. The strength of the current reveals the amount of lactate.
剧烈运动产生的乳酸能使过度劳累的肌肉燃烧。有时,运动员通过测量自己血液中的乳酸浓度来评估自身的健康状况。为减少抽血次数,研究人员发明出一个能够测量出汗液中乳酸浓度的监测器。该设备能使乳酸中的电子脱离,从而产生一小段电流。电流的强弱代表乳酸含量的多少。
To test the system, 10 volunteers wore the arm-patch sensor while they rode a stationary bike. And the device recorded the current they delivered as they dripped.
Then the researchers thought, what if they could tap into this energy to develop a sort of sweat-powered “bio battery?” Their proof-of-concept setup topped out at only about 4 microWatts of juice—not even enough to run a watch. But with better electronics, exercising in the future could make dirty clothes and some clean energy.
后来研究人员又突发奇想:是否能利用这种能量来发明一种依靠汗水发电的“生物电池”?他们的概念验证装置只产生4微瓦电——这还不足以使一只手表正常运转。但随着电学的日趋完善,运动产生的汗液说不定在将来的某一天可以为清洗衣物,和创造清洁能源发挥作用。