Energy-harvesting design aims to turn Wi-Fi signals into usable power

https://news.mit.edu/2020/energy-harvesting-wi-fi-power-0327

by gigama • 6 years ago

1 2 6 years ago

news.mit.edu

gigama• 6 years ago

TL;DR...

"Any device that sends out a Wi-Fi signal also emits terahertz waves — electromagnetic waves with a frequency somewhere between microwaves and infrared light. These high-frequency radiation waves, known as 'T-rays,' are also produced by almost anything that registers a temperature, including our own bodies and the inanimate objects around us."

"They found that in this [honeycomb] arrangement, the forces between graphene’s electrons were knocked out of balance: Electrons closer to boron felt a certain force while electrons closer to nitrogen experienced a different pull. The overall effect was what physicists call 'skew scattering,' in which clouds of electrons skew their motion in one direction."

"...a terahertz rectifier that consists of a small square of graphene that sits atop a layer of boron nitride and is sandwiched within an antenna that would collect and concentrate ambient terahertz radiation, boosting its signal enough to convert it into a DC current."

“This would work very much like a solar cell, except for a different frequency range, to passively collect and convert ambient energy,” Fu says.

zapttt• 6 years ago

in other news: let's put a turbine on an open faucet!

Energy-harvesting design aims to turn Wi-Fi signals into usable power

Related Stories