Salty ice can generate an electric charge 1,000 times greater than regular ice when strained, according to research published in Nature Materials.
Further research could investigate how this phenomenon could enable sustainable energy generation at low temperatures where salt and ice mix, with implications for ice geologies, for example in glaciers or moons in the outer Solar System, such as Europa or Enceladus.
10% of the Earth’s surface is covered by ice, which can generate electricity upon bending, but its potential power remains untapped. This phenomenon — the ‘flexoelectric effect’ — depends on the material, and pure water ice has failed to generate a substantial enough current to power small electrical devices – with a current from pure ice of about 1-10 nanocoulombs per metre.
The authors note that further research is needed to determine how this energy generation could power electronics. However, these findings suggest that environmentally sustainable and cheap energy-harvesting and sensing devices could be implemented in cold locations. Similarly, the results may have implications for natural systems where salt ions and ice mix, such as in glaciers or outer Solar System moons.