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A team of scientists from Hong Kong and mainland China have created a device that could pave the way to a new source of clean energy – an engine that can power small electronics through the process of water evaporation.
The device can run on 100ml (3.4 ounces) of water as fuel for 50 hours and produce an energy output of up to 100 volts, significantly more than previous studies that had tried to harvest evaporation energy.
“Using the prototype [of the generator], we power small electronics such as 20 liquid crystal displays (LCDs), temperature sensors and calculators in ambient conditions using water as fuel,” the article said.
The researchers are from South China University of Technology in Guangzhou, and Hong Kong Polytechnic University and City University of Hong Kong.