Metamaterials to help harvest energy from electromagnetic waves

Mankind's reliance on electrical energy is ever growing and that's forcing the researchers to discover newer, better and more efficient ways to harvest green energy. Researchers from Waterloo University in Canada have achieved an important milestone in harvesting energy from electromagnetic waves and that too, using the 'full absorption concept'. The researchers used metamaterials in place of the classical dipole patch antennas that aren't just as efficient as they should be.

Researchers created special metasurfaces to collect energy by itching the metamaterials with a specific pattern of shapes. It was found out that altering the dimensions of the pattern on the metamaterial and adjusting their proximity to each other could lead to achieving near-unity energy absorption - that is full absorption of the waves being received by the surface. This is the first time that researchers were able to collect all of the incident waves and channel it a to a load.


The immediate application of the research would be in the upcoming China Planning To Build Solar Power Station In Space Deliver Solar Power From Solar Panels In Space - NASA's "SPS-ALPHA" Project Project Suaineadh Research Engineers Harness Space Based Solar Power. Japan and China are leading the race to build the first power station in space by 2030. One more key application would be in RFID devices that can benefit through full power absorption. Professor Ramahi of electrical and computer engineering department at the University says that the research team is now extending the work into IR frequency regime and is hopeful about reporting full absorption in high frequency radiation regimes in the next few months.

Read about the research on the source link below.

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