DON’T throw Onion SKIN, GENERATE Electricity instead

Energy and to be particular electricity crisis is one of the few constant things in the country and the world. More often these days some or other experiment is conducted to cope with this crisis of the energy. In this direction, onion waste i.e. the onion skin has found to have piezoelectric properties.

Piezoelectric Effect is the ability by which materials can generate an electric charge in response to applied mechanical stress. According to a recent research, onion skin was found perfect to be used in nanogenerator since they have piezoelectric properties.

The Indian institutes of technology are known for their experiment and research wings for producing and trying out new solutions for the existing problems and yet again the institute has proven its worth. IIT Kanpur has its focused researches for the alternative sources of energy generation, which has led to this energy generation search out of onion skins.

Onion being an everyday household item, the source of these onion skins can be readily available. Onions are a readily available source of bio-waste.

Various biomedical instruments such as pacemakers or devices to track health conditions can be made by using such organic inputs.

The device could be used in various biomedical applications such as pacemakers powered by heart beats or edible devices that can track health from inside the body.

Nano-generators are made out of this piezoelectric material and can generate electricity to power small devices. Slightest of pressure from any source makes the electrons move in a same direction which leads to the generation of electricity. All the potential good conductor of electricity have electrons moving in a haphazard manner which can be brought to a direction of zero potential to the  maximum by application of external force. This external force arranges the electrons in a common direction and hence the electricity is produced.

A Nanogenerator is a type of technology that converts mechanical/thermal energy as produced by small-scale physical change into electricity. A Nanogenerator has three typical approaches: piezoelectric, triboelectric, and pyroelectric nanogenerators.

Another major problem of the country is the dumping of waste. All kinds of biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes are a major source of filth in the country. If more of these kind of innovations keep on coming, it will not only sort the problem of waste dumping but also help in the generation of electricity from the same waste which needs another solution to deal with.