Michael Berger’s January 9, 2926 Nanowerk Spotlight article highlights some intriguing research into generating power,

Most factories, auto shops, and assembly plants run on compressed air. This invisible utility powers pneumatic tools, actuates robotic arms, and drives automated systems across virtually every industrial sector. But compressed air carries a hidden problem that engineers have struggled to solve. Fine particles of dust and water molecules suspended in pressurized airstreams develop intense electrical charges when they collide with pipe walls and equipment surfaces at high speeds.

This is the triboelectric effect, the same phenomenon that makes a balloon cling to a wall after you rub it on your hair. In industrial settings, triboelectric charging can generate electric potentials reaching several thousand volts, with serious consequences: sparks that ignite combustible dust, sudden discharges that destroy sensitive electronics, and persistent static buildup that disrupts precision manufacturing.

Most solutions focus purely on mitigation, treating static charges as waste to be eliminated rather than energy to be captured. Previous attempts to harvest electricity from airborne particles required adding extra materials like plastic beads, silica particles, or sand grains with diameters exceeding several hundred micrometers. Some systems sprayed water into the airstream.

These approaches remained confined to laboratory settings or highly specific environments such as desert sandstorms. They produced modest power outputs. And they ignored the core safety concern: high voltages from particulate charging still posed ignition and discharge risks.

A study published in Advanced Energy Materials (“Particulate Static Effect Induced Electricity Generation Inspired by Tesla Turbine”) takes a different approach. Researchers from Chung-Ang University, Kumoh National Institute of Technology, MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology], and National Taiwan University developed a device that generates substantial electrical power using only ordinary compressed air. No additional particles, water sprays, or specialized conditions required.

The system draws inspiration from the Tesla turbine, a bladeless rotary design patented by Nikola Tesla in 1913. Unlike conventional turbines with angled blades that deflect fluid flow, Tesla’s elegant design uses viscous drag to spin smooth, closely spaced discs. Air clings to the disc surfaces and transfers momentum as it spirals inward.

The new device combines this century-old turbine concept with modern triboelectric materials. It consists of a rotating disc assembly, triboelectric layers made from opposing materials, bearings, and an acrylic housing. Compressed air enters through an inlet and creates a high-speed swirling flow reaching 300 m/s. This airflow spins the rotator through surface friction alone. At 0.2 MPa of pressure, the rotator achieves 8472 revolutions per minute.

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Practical demonstrations confirmed real-world utility. The device illuminated 1000 LEDs arranged in four parallel strings and powered four 2.5 W commercial lamps simultaneously. A commercial thermo-hygrometer operated solely on harvested electricity after the device charged a storage capacitor.

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Compressed air systems already exist in industrial facilities everywhere. This research demonstrates they could serve dual purposes: performing their pneumatic functions while generating useful power and controlling airborne particulates. Rather than grounding away hazardous static charges, that energy could be captured and charged particles neutralized through ion emission. What has long been an industrial nuisance may prove to be a practical resource..

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Particulate Static Effect Induced Electricity Generation Inspired by Tesla Turbine by Seh-Hoon Chung, Dongwon Seo, Chanui Lee, Hyungseok Yong, Sunghan Kim, Zong-Hong Lin, Sangmin Lee, Jihoon Chung. Advanced Energy Materials Volume 16, Issue 9 4 March 2026 e06275 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202506275 First published online: 28 December 2025

This paper is behind a paywall.