On November 8th, scientists at the University of Washington designed an intelligent paper that not only detects moisture but also conducts electricity. Scientists said that this paper can be used to detect leaks in urban pipelines in the future. In the city's complex pipeline system, even the repair of minor leaks requires a lot of costs. Leaving aside minor questions will only make the problem worse, and finding leakage points will also require a lot of time.
The American Water Supply Engineering Association estimates that about 250,000 water pipelines are damaged every year due to leakage, which makes the annual cost of public water up to $2.8 billion.
Scientists hope their newly developed smart paper can reduce losses by quickly detecting and repairing pipeline leaks. This paper can detect the presence of water and transmit current, activate alarms or warning lights, and make maintenance management aware of water leakage.
Anthony Dichiara, an assistant professor at the University of Washington's Faculty of Environment and Forest Sciences, said in a press release: "Water detection technology is a challenge because water is ubiquitous in nature and the technology used today is very expensive and difficult to use. The situation prompted us to start the study."
Smart paper is manufactured in the same way as plain paper, but scientists will be able to detect moisture and conductive nanomaterials into the pulp. This technology was born in an accident. Researchers were trying to create a paper that could power LED lights. When there is a few drops of water on the paper, the LED's light is affected. The researchers also thought that their results were destroyed. In fact, they created a paper sensitive to water.
Water will swell the woody cells in the paper and disrupt the current, but when the paper dries, the nanomaterial will resume its conductive function. This paper can also be designed to trigger current when it detects water. The researchers believe that the paper can be equipped with batteries and wrapped around the outside of the pipe, or placed outside the intersection of the pipe. When it detects water seepage, the battery-supplied current activates an alarm to alert the repairman to fix it.
Dichiara said: "I think this technology is clearly capable of large-scale application. The price of nanomaterials will continue to fall, and we are using a mature papermaking process. The difference is that it needs to be in the right place and right Time to add our research and development materials."
Carbon nanomaterials consist of carbon atoms that can be extracted from a variety of natural materials. Scientists burned banana peel, bark, animal waste, and even wood to make charcoal, which can then extract carbon atoms and add it to smart paper manufacturing processes. (passer)
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