Urine-Powered Distress Call Transmitter

Mar-22-15 The team at the University of Bristol has taken their urine-powered tech out of the urinal and into the office with their pee-powered distress signal transmitter made of recycled photocopier paper.

For some time now, the researchers at the UWE Bristol BioEnergy Centre have been working to make microbial fuel cells smaller, cheaper and safer to dispose of than conventional units. To that end, the team used recycled photocopier paper that had been treated with three layers of latex waterproofing and folded origami-style into a pyramid to create their prototype device. The internal layer functions as the anode, and has been coated with dormant biofilms of bacteria that will return to life and begin generating electricity when they are exposed to urine.

According to the team, the system is able to create enough power to operate a radio transmitter within 35 minutes of activation, and two fuel cells connected in a series could allow the device to transmit a radio signal every 6 minutes for 24 hours.

More Info about this Invention:

[GIZMAG.COM]
[INFO.UWE.AK.UK]

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