A research team at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst has made a breakthrough. Any material can produce electricity from the air under certain conditions.
Researchers have developed a thin layer of material with nanopores smaller than 100 nanometers. This layer allows the passage of water molecules from top to bottom, but they easily bump into the edge of the pores. This creates a charge imbalance, where the upper part of the layer has a higher charge compared to the lower part. This charge can potentially be used to power small devices or store the power in a battery.