· List topics · post a topic · subscribe · Google ·
Posted on 10/02/2020 7:09:57 AM PDT by Red Badger
The idea of harvesting energy from graphene is controversial because it refutes physicist Richard Feynman’s well-known assertion that the thermal motion of atoms, known as Brownian motion, cannot do work. Thibado’s team found that at room temperature the thermal motion of graphene does in fact induce an alternating current (AC) in a circuit, an achievement thought to be impossible.
I figure it'll be a "lab accident". If he survives though, and the idea pans out, this could make its first commercial appearance in an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch. Thanks Red Badger.
Yes, you are correct. My mind immediately jumped to present-day mass “green energy” politics. I could easily imagine a world where power is needed, in very tiny amounts, at many trillions of nodes in a network for monitoring literally every human activity in real-time.
The graphene acts as the AC generator in a rather normal power supply circuit..............
..........or a Tesla.................
Particles in both liquids and gases (collectively called fluids) move randomly. This is called Brownian motion. They do this because they are bombarded by the other moving particles in the fluid. Larger particles can be moved by light, fast-moving molecules.
Brownian motion is named after the botanist Robert Brown, who first observed this in 1827. He used a microscope to look at pollen grains moving randomly in water. At this point, he could not explain why this occurred.
But in 1905, physicist Albert Einstein explained that the pollen grains were being moved by individual water molecules. This confirmed that atoms and molecules did exist, and provided evidence for particle theory.BBC bitesize guides: Kinetic particle theory and state changes: Brownian motion
Instead of a Plaid, they'll have a Brown model.
It should necessarily also serve as a heat sink with possible cooling usages as well as an electrical source. My question is how efficient is it? Is its efficiency greater than current thermocouples/thermopiles, recognizing the possible advantage of a greatly decreased size for such devices?
additional stream-of-consciousness sidebars:
http://thermoelectrics.matsci.northwestern.edu/thermoelectrics/history.html
https://www.electronicdesign.com/power-management/article/21801833/what-is-the-piezoelectric-effect
Bob Dylan - Visions of Johanna
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwuCF5lYqEE
Of course you are right, and I even once bought a small Peltier effect ice chest at Costco. It was expensive and did not cool particularly well compared to a bag of ice. But, salable consumer products do exist.
This can only work if the environment itself provides an unlimited (or at least sufficient) source of thermal energy.
Fortunately, as long as you are above absolute zero, it does.
So, the graphene converts its own thermal energy to electricity and the environment brings the graphene back to thermal equilibrium. The Laws of Thermodynamics remain satisfied. The device just sucks energy out of the nearly unlimited thermal energy source we call the environment.
Why didn’t I think of this.
If this is in fact converting heat into electricity, it should also have a refrigerating effect or it would violate the conservation of energy law.
+++++
I agree. The temperature of the environment would fall. At least until you convert that energy to heat in some electronic device. But while that energy is stored your statement is correct.
That's the name I was trying to remember. Lol The problem with these devices and all thermoelectric generation is its poor efficiency. If this device is an improvement, it may have great possibilities; even for powering spacecraft.
The article makes no sense. For starters, diodes all have a “forward voltage” drop, a threshold below which they don’t conduct. This turns them into a power absorber at low voltages. The forward voltage of a diode is generally around a half a volt. Johnsonian noise in a material is measured in micro volts. Real diodes simply wouldn’t conduct the noise at all, they would simply absorb any power that is present.
Words like “symbiotic relationships” deal with living things, not circuits. Electrical circuits only can have physical characteristics.
Words like “We also found that the on-off, switch-like behavior of the diodes actually amplifies the power delivered, rather than reducing it, as previously thought,” said Thibado. “The rate of change in resistance provided by the diodes adds an extra factor to the power.” are simply nonsense.
Quite so. The military applications alone would be revolutionary.
When we reach the heat death of the Universe, it'll stop; Brownian motion .NE. zero-point energy, which derives from the non-commutation of the position and momentum operators and Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle.
Yeah, except for Feynman's quote that "if it doesn't agree with experiment, it's WRONG."
Nice. Keep the Chinese students away from this research.
Maybe there IS an exception to the rule, but Arkansas...
Yeah but he excelled at thinking outside the box, which “trumps” hardware. No slight on this guy, I know exactly nothing about him.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.