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Scientists Make Thin Materials That Can Store Electricity - Some scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) make thin materials that can absorb various electromagnetic waves, including wireless internet in the air, and convert it into electricity.
This material can be useful, one of which is to charge the device battery without the need to plug it into the power line at home. This very thin material could be inserted in the surrounding materials, for example in an electronic table tablecloth.
"You can cover the table with an electronic table tablecloth and even though you sit at the table all day, it will collect energy and store it in a battery that you can later use," said Tomas Palacious, the lead researcher for this project, as quoted by The Guardian.
Palacious and his research team connected the bendable antenna to a semiconductor sheet three atoms thick. This antenna will pick up wifi signals and other radio signals to convert them into electric current.
The semiconductor material used is made of molybdenum disulfide which will convert radio signals into electric current. In laboratory studies, the efficiency of the electricity generated reaches 30 percent to 40 percent or about 40 microwatts of the 150 microwatt signal that should be obtained.
The journal of this research can be accessed in the journal Nature. "Maybe not comparable to a computer that requires 60 watts of power. However, this discovery can be used for sensor design, environmental monitoring, or chemical and biological components that require little power,"said Palacious.
Palacious also said this semiconductor material has potential for use in the medical world. Wifi signals and radio signals that pass through the human body can produce their health data. Previous energy-producing technologies using semiconductor materials were rigid, impractical, and could not be produced on a large scale.
While the material Palacious invented can be produced on an industrial scale, in large sheets so that it can capture and generate large amounts of energy. "In the future, everything will be covered with electronic systems and sensors. This discovery represents a block that we need now, ”said Palacious.
The resulting electricity efficiency reaches 30 percent to 40 percent or about 40 microwatts
source: https://tirto.id/
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