602103 external_news 1518039894 1518041980 Imagine that tiny spark that jumps from your fingertip to a doorknob when you walk across the carpet on a cold, dry day. That's the triboelectic effect at work, the electric charge generated by rubbing two different materials together. Zhong Lin Wang of the School of Materials Science and Engineering and the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry is a pioneer of triboelectric generator technology that can put to use otherwise wasted mechanical energy. The hope is that the technology will be a cost effective replacement for other methods of harvesting power. 

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