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Chinese team’s cell turns ambient heat into power – no sunlight required

Researchers say their sealed hydrovoltaic cell could be used in harsh environments like deserts and in the dark.

Chinese researchers say they have found a way to continuously produce electricity from water within a sealed container, drawing heat from the surrounds to create vapour for power generation. “We fabricate a hermetic hydrovoltaic cell (HHC) to harvest ambient heat and have fully addressed the limitations posed by environmental conditions,” the team wrote in a paper published in peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications on November 12. They said their cell achieved stable electricity output for 160 hours with negligible water consumption, which could make it a good candidate for extreme environments like water-scarce deserts, humid tropical rainforests and underground engineering sites.

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