Chinese Students Win Patent for Urine-Powered Battery Charger

Nov 16, 2014 10:35 PM EST

(Photo : Samsung) The pee-powered charger will compete for first prize in China's "Solve for Tomorrow" scientific innovation contest finals in Beijing next weekend.

Apparently the world has been flushing a perfectly good phone charger down the toilet.

Three students at Sichuan University in China have proved this in the Chinese patent they recently won for a wireless mobile phone charger that can be powered by urine.

Global Times reports that the students' invention will compete for first prize in China's "Solve for Tomorrow" scientific innovation contest finals in Beijing next weekend.

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The pee-powered charger works in a similar way to a standard fuel-cell. A small mixture of magnesium hydride and calcium-based hydride compound react with water to produce hydrogen gas. This then reacts with oxygen and produces an electrical charge, reports the Chengdu Business Daily.

The charger is also designed to work outdoors or during military operations where water may be scarce. "Urine can do as well, if you are running out of water," said co-designer Liang Fengyan.

Liang also pointed out that the charger is cost effective, as the 15 grams of chemical hydride required for the device only cost 1.5 yuan ($0.25).

Signs for toilets from around the world are displayed at The Plumbing Museum in Watertown, Masss. This could be the new place to charge a phone.

(Photo : Reuters) Signs for toilets from around the world are displayed at The Plumbing Museum in Watertown, Masss. This could be the new place to charge a phone.

The "Solve for Tomorrow" scientific forum was created by Samsung to inspire students to dream big in science, technology, engineering and math. The contest was created in 2010 in the U.S. and has since expanded to Asia, and launched in China just last year.

In Asia, the Solve for Tomorrow competition is being held in Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Samsung said it received submissions from 600 schools across 5 regions, a total of 2,703 projects with more than 10,000 students participating.

As part of the contest, students demonstrate their research and development outcomes at regional preliminaries in the five cities, reports China Daily. The local winners will meet at the China Science and Technology Museum in Beijing for the national finals next weekend.

University students' submissions for the contest focused on energy efficiency, environmental protection, or health and safety, while high school students concentrated on improving safety. Twelve teams were eventually chosen as winners.

Prizes include Samsung electronic devices, as well as a chance to visit industry leaders in the U.S. for university students. High school winners will receive $500 worth of Samsung products for their schools.

More than 15,000 participants were expected to enter this year's competition, according to Samsung.

TagsChinese Students Win Patent for Urine-Powered Phone Charger, Sichuan University, Patent, Solve for Tomorrow, Contest