Graphene is said to make terahertz waves usable
Will our phones charge through the air soon? Researchers at MIT hope to find a way to convert electromagnetic radiation emitted by other WLAN-enabled devices into usable energy.
Researchers at the well-known Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT] believe that in the future, smartphones may be charged by radiation from WLAN routers. The key is the so-called terahertz wave. These are electromagnetic waves whose frequency range moves between microwave and infrared signals. They are broadcast by any WLAN-enabled device. These waves contain unused energy.
Attempts have been made to convert electromagnetic radiation into energy, but they either only work in lower frequency ranges or require extreme temperatures that we cannot find in our daily lives. But MIT researchers hope to use maps to harness the energy contained in terahertz waves. To this end, they are taking a different approach from previous research projects.
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MIT researchers don't want to convert electromagnetic waves into direct current by applying an external electric field in the device. Instead, they want to use the electric field to orient the electrons of the graphene film in one direction to generate direct current. However, usually, the electrons of graphene are scattered by incident radiation in different directions due to mutual repulsion. The researchers hope to prevent this by adding a boron nitride substrate. To generate as much energy as possible, the researchers' design also plans to bundle incident terahertz waves together for use in converters.
So far, patented energy converters are only in the minds of researchers. But soon they wanted to show a functional test device. If the project is successful, MIT researchers will see many possible uses. In addition to charging portable devices, the technology can also be used to charge implants, such as pacemakers.
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