Sustainable Bio-Engineered Magnetoelectric Nanogenerator to convert ambient stray magnetic noise to electricity

We are surrounded by low-frequency magnetic fields generated by electrical power lines and consumer electronics. As a by-product of electric current flow, the stray magnetic field causes electromagnetic interference and noise pollution, threatening data security and human health. Similar to sunlight and wind energy, the abundant electromagnetic waste energy can be renewably harvested by using electromagnetic nanogenerators and converted into kinetic energy and useful electricity. Recently, bio-inspired commodity polymer hybrids utilizing bacteria and DNA, as fillers, exhibit high power output and an impressive energy conversion efficiency. This shed lights on the prospects of deploying bio-engineered piezoelectric polymers materials for fabricating energy generators and smart sensors. To overcome the current technical limitations of inorganic materials – based magnetic energy generators, our work develops soft and flexible magneto-mechano-electric (MME) generators by integrating novel 3D nanostructured magnetic materials to bio- organic-inspired semicrystalline organic piezoelectric polymers for efficient and sustainable magnetic energy harvesting and conversion.