Cantilever bends repeatedly under light exposure for continuous energy generation

October 6, 2010 | Source: PhysOrg.com

(a) An illustration of the energy-harvesting cantilever device. (b) A photo of the cantilever. (c) An optical micrograph and SEM image of the CNF material. (Venu Kotipalli, et al. ©2010 American Institute of Physics)

With the goal of enabling small electronic devices to harvest their own energy, Louisiana Tech University researchers have designed a device that can convert light and thermal energy into electricity.

When exposed to visible light and/or heat (infrared) radiation, the 20-mm-long carbon-nanotube-film-based cantilever bends back and forth repeatedly, as long as the light and/or heat remains on.

In their experiments, they demonstrated that the device could generate 2.1 microwatts of power at a light intensity of 0.13 W/cm2, which is sufficient to operate some low-power microsensors and integrated sensors.