(Nanowerk News) From microwave ovens to Wi-Fi connections, not only are the radio waves circulating the environment signals of energy consumed but they are also energy sources themselves. An international team of researchers, led by Huanyu “Larry” Cheng, Dorothy Quiggle’s Professor of Career Development in Penn State’s Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, has developed a method to extract energy from radio waves to machines power consumption.
The researchers recently published their method Physics of materials today (“Broadband dipole antennas and rectennas for RF energy extraction”).
According to Cheng, conventional energy sources for affordable health monitoring devices have a place in power sensing devices, but they all have their own barriers. Solar power, for example, can only harvest energy when it is exposed to the sun. A self-powered triboelectric device can only extract energy when the body is in motion.
“We don’t want to replace any of these conventional power sources,” Cheng said. “We’re trying to provide more, consistent energy.”
The researchers developed a broadband dipole antenna system that was able to provide data collected from health surveillance sensors. The system consists of two accessible metal antennas connected by a metal-coated conductive graphene material. The system’s broadband design allows it to maintain its frequency actions even when stretched, bent and twisted.
This system is then connected to an extensible rectifier circuit, creating a rectified antenna, or “rectenna,” that is capable of converting energy from electromagnetic waves into electricity. This electricity can be used to power wireless devices or to charge energy storage devices, such as batteries and supercapacitors.
This rectenna can convert radio, or electromagnetic, waves from the ambient environment into energy to power the sensing modules on the device, which monitor temperature, irrigation and pulse oxygen level. Compared to other sources, less energy is extracted, but the system can generate power continuously – a huge advantage, according to Cheng.
“We’re already using the energy around us – radio waves are everywhere, all the time,” said Cheng. “If we don’t use this energy found in the environmental environment, we will simply wear it. We can harvest this energy and turn it into power. ”
Cheng said this technology is a building block for him and his team. Combining it with their innovative wireless data device will provide an essential part that works with the team’s sensing models.
“Our next steps will be to explore small versions of these rides and work on improving the stretcher’s stretch,” Cheng said. “This is a platform where we can bring this technology together and apply it easily with other models we have created in the past. It is easy to extend or adapt for other applications, and we intend to explore these opportunities. ”