U.S., Recent devastating fires in the Amazon rain forest and the Australian bush highlight the need to detect forest fires at early stages, before they blaze out of control.
Some of the current methods to detect forest fire include:-
- Infrared imaging satellites
- Remote sensing
- Watchtowers
- Aerial patrols
However, by the time they sound the alarm, it could be too late. Now, researchers reporting in American Chemical Society(ACS) Applied Materials & Interfaces have developed self-powered "paper chips" that sense early fires and relay a signal.
Initially scientists proposed that a network of sensors detecting changes in temperature, smoke and humidity should be placed in the forest but had certain drawbacks.
Thermoelectric materials, which convert temperature differences into electricity, care often expensive, rigid and environmentally unfriendly. So, Yapei Wang and colleagues wanted to use iconic liquids ( uses to generate signals) as thermoelectric materials for fire sensing.
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The experiment involved to make paper based thermoelectric sensors using ionic liquids connected in series, producing signal when a large temperature difference occurred, as would happen in a fire.
In a pilot test of the new sensor, the researchers attached one to a houseplant. When they placed a flaming cotton ball close to the plant's roots, the temperature at the bottom of the sensor quickly increased, producing a voltage signal that an attached microcomputer chip wirelessly transmitted to a receiver.
Upon picking up the signal, the receiver activated a sound alarm and a red light.
The thermoelectric paper chips are cheap, and the materials are eco-friendly, the researchers say.
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