In a bid to generate sustainable electrical energy, an initiative of a team of physicists at the University of Arkansas have a feat in their kitty. The team has been successful in developing a circuit that is capable of capturing thermal motion of graphene and convert it into electrical current.
“Going by the study, an energy-collecting circuit built on graphene could be integrated into a chip. This is to provide limitless, clean, low-voltage power for sensors or small devices,” stated lead researcher of the study behind the finding.
The finding is a proof of the theory the team conceptualized three years ago about freestanding graphene. According to the theory, a single layer of carbon atoms buckles and ripples in a way that is promising for collecting energy.
Research disproves earlier notion of Brownian motion of graphene
In fact, the idea of gathering energy from graphene is controversial. It refutes the well-known assertion that thermal motion of atoms cannot do work. On the contrary, as revealed by the study, at room temperature, the thermal motion of graphene industry induces an alternating current in a circuit.
Earlier, in the 1950s, a landmark paper published rejected the idea that integrating a single diode to a circuit is the solution to harvesting energy from thermal motion of atoms. With this knowledge, the research team built the circuit with two diodes for converting alternating current (AC) into direct current (DC). In this configuration, the diodes in opposition allows the current to flow both ways, and they provide separate passage through the circuit, thereby producing a pulsing direct current that performs work on a load resistor.
“In addition, the design increased the amount of power harvested,” discovered the team.
