A research team led by the National University of Singapore has made a significant step in the development of energy harvesting technology. This development could potentially eliminate the need for batteries in various electronic devices.
They have developed a new type of rectifier that can efficiently convert ambient radio frequency signals, which are typically considered «waste» energy, into usable DC voltage. For example, this technology converts ambient RF signals from sources such as Wi-Fi and cellular networks into usable electricity.
«RF energy harvesting technologies such as this one are important because they reduce battery dependency, extend device life, minimize environmental impact, and increase the ability to use wireless sensor networks and IoT devices in remote areas where frequent battery changes are impractical,» the developers say.
Studies have demonstrated the possibility of using nanoscale rectifiers to achieve this conversion. It was even possible to do this at low RF power levels below -20 dBm. This was achieved by optimizing the rectifiers and integrating an array of such rectifiers into an energy harvesting module. The collected energy (at RF power below -20 dBm) was sufficient to power LEDs and a commercial temperature sensor. The array of 10 optimized rectifiers achieved an impressive 7.8% efficiency and high sensitivity.
The research team is now focusing on integrating an embedded antenna to further improve the efficiency and compactness of their technology. The researchers are also exploring series-parallel connections and on-chip connections to improve RF power harvesting with the potential to generate enough voltage to eliminate the need for a DC amplifier.
Source: interestingengineering
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