metamaterials Archives – The Green Optimistic

Energy Scavenged from Wireless Signals More Efficiently Due to New “Special Materials”

Danny Harper — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 07:52:40 +0000

Think of it as an energy-producing Bug Zapper. But rather than enticing and systematically destroying curious insects, this harvesting device gathers unused wave energy (ala microwave, Wi-Fi, satellite signals) and tunes them for useful applications. While gathering energy in such a manner has been done before, researchers at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering have […]

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Silver Nanocubes and Metamaterials May Revolutionize Solar Cells

Leigh Hutchens — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 06:27:19 +0000

Researchers at the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University in North Carolina have discovered that microscopic metallic cubes may allow metamaterials, human-made materials that are not found in nature, to absorb light, leading to cost-effective and efficient large-area absorbers for sensors or solar cells. Metamaterials are constructed with the ability to control the properties […]

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Mini Black Hole for Microwave Energy Created by Chinese Scientists Could Have Green Uses

Ovidiu Sandru — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 07:36:12 +0000

Two researchers from the State Key Laboratory of Millimeter Waves at Southeast University from Nanjing, China, have discovered and prototyped a device that acts like a black hole for electromagnetic waves in the microwave spectrum. It consists of 60 concentric rings of metamaterials, a class or ordered composites that can distort light and other waves.

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