60秒科学:Tree Electricity Runs Nano-Gadget

Tree Electricity Runs Nano-Gadget¹
A report in the journal IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology shows that maple² trees generate a small, but measureable amounts of electricity, which can power tiny devices. Karen Hopkin reports

If scientists have their way, we may someday be tapping maples³—not for pancake fixin’s, but for power. Because researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle have found there’s enough electricity flowing in trees to run an electronic circuit.

If you’ve ever made a potato battery, you know that plant material can generate current. But the energy in trees is something else entirely⁴. The potato experiment uses electrodes of two different metals to set up a charge difference that gets local electrons flowing.

But in the current study, researchers use electrodes made of the same material. Sticking one electrode into a tree and another in the soil, they found that big leaf maples generate a steady voltage of up to a few hundred millivolts. That’s way less than the volt-and-a-half provided by a standard AA battery. So the scientists designed a gadget so small, with parts just 130 nanometers in size, that it can run on tree power alone. Their results appear in the journal IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology.

If you’re nuts for renewable energy, you probably can’t get much greener than a forest full of electrici-tree.

—Karen Hopkin

 

1 gadget   

n.小巧的机械，精巧的装置，小玩意儿

参考例句：

• This gadget isn't much good.这小机械没什么用处。
• She has invented a nifty little gadget for undoing stubborn nuts and bolts.她发明了一种灵巧的小工具用来松开紧固的螺母和螺栓。

2 maple   

n.槭树，枫树，槭木

参考例句：

• Maple sugar is made from the sap of maple trees.枫糖是由枫树的树液制成的。
• The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。

3 maples   

槭树，枫树( maple的名词复数 )； 槭木

参考例句：

• There are many maples in the park. 公园里有好多枫树。
• The wind of the autumn colour the maples carmine . 秋风给枫林涂抹胭红。

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。