In South Korea, researchers from the Pohang University of Science and Technology have found a way to use naturally abundant, self-aligned cellulose fibrous untreated onion skin as efficient piezoelectric material to create a bio-piezoelectric nanogenerator. Nanogenerators convert kinetic energy from mechanical or thermal energy into electricity, acting as an energy harvester. Nanogenerators are key for things like biomedical health monitoring where nontoxic and biocompatible nanogenerators are key. They found the onion skin can harvest several types of mechanical energies like body movements, wind flow, and machine vibrations in order to create electricity. Even small body movement in the chest like coughing, drinking, or swallowing, was able to generate electricity, making it a great option for use in pacemakers.
Jin Kon Kim, professor at Pohang University of Science and Technology told Nanowerk, “This biocompatible inexpensive bio-wasted recyclable onion skin based highly durable self-powered OSBPNG could be a very promising biopiezoelectric material to fabricate self-powered nanogenerators as alternative green energy resource for powering small electronic devices and would be also applicable in large scale industrial applications.”