A team comprising University of Arkansas physics professor Paul Thibado and his colleague assistant professor Pradeep Kumar have worked on a research project which shown that the motion of 2D materials could be used as a source of clean, limitless energy.
Based on this concept, the researchers developed a new device, Vibration Energy Harvester. The harvester is a negatively charged sheet of graphene suspended between two metal electrodes.
The researchers said: “When the graphene flips up, it induces a positive charge in the top electrode, and when it flips down, it positively charges the bottom one, creating an alternating current.”
Commenting of the technology’s potential, US-based nanotechnology company NTS Innovations research and technology director Charles Woodson said: “This is by far the most exciting project I’ve seen.”
The patent-pending technology has now been licensed from the university by NTS Innovations to use it to develop devices and systems which can produce energy without fuel consumption or emitting pollution.
Within a year, Thibado plans to develop a proof of concept, a device that can charge a capacitor using only ambient heat and the motion of graphene.
Woodson plans to use the technology for many applications including developing sustainable, decentralized energy systems.
The researchers said: “It may also prove beneficial in biomedical devices, enhanced solar and wind production, capturing waste heat and remote sensing devices.”
Image: University of Arkansas physics professor Paul Thibado. Photo: courtesy of Russell Cothren/ University of Arkansas.
