scholarly journals Semiconductor-based selective emitter with sharp cutoff for thermophotovoltaic energy conversion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qing Ni ◽  
Rajagopalan Ramesh ◽  
CHENG-AN chen ◽  
Liping Wang
Keyword(s):  
Energy Conversion ◽  
Selective Emitter ◽  
Sharp Cutoff

scholarly journals Improved Thermal Emitters for Thermophotovoltaic Energy Conversion

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronika Stelmakh ◽  
Walker R. Chan ◽  
John D. Joannopoulos ◽  
Marin Soljacic ◽  
Ivan Celanovic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Stability ◽  
Photonic Crystal ◽  
Energy Conversion ◽  
Temperature Stability ◽  
Square Lattice ◽  
Natural Material ◽  
Efficiency Gain ◽  
High Temperature Stability ◽  
Selective Emitter ◽  
Thermal Emitters

Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) energy conversion enables millimeter scale power generation required for portable microelectronics, robotics, etc. In a TPV system, a heat source heats a selective emitter to incandescence, the radiation from which is incident on a low bandgap TPV cell. The selective emitter tailors the photonic density of states to produce spectrally confined selective emission of light matching the bandgap of the photovoltaic cell, enabling high heat-to-electricity conversion efficiency. The selective emitter requires: thermal stability at high-temperatures for long operational lifetimes, simple and relatively low-cost fabrication, as well as spectrally selective emission over a large uniform area. Generally, the selective emission can either originate from the natural material properties, such as in ytterbia or erbia emitters, or can be engineered through microstructuring. Our approach, the 2D photonic crystal fabricated in refractory metals, offers high spectral selectivity and high-temperature stability while being fabricated by standard semiconductor processes. In this work, we present a brief comparison of TPV system efficiencies using these different emitter technologies. We then focus on the design, fabrication, and characterization of our current 2D photonic crystal, which is a square lattice of cylindrical holes fabricated in a refractory metal substrate. The spectral performance and thermal stability of the fabricated photonic crystal thermal emitters are demonstrated and the efficiency gain of our model TPV system is characterized.

scholarly journals High-efficiency thermophotovoltaic energy conversion enabled by a metamaterial selective emitter

Optica ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 213 ◽  
Author(s):  
David N. Woolf ◽  
Emil A. Kadlec ◽  
Don Bethke ◽  
Albert D. Grine ◽  
John J. Nogan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Conversion ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Selective Emitter

Artificial cells containing sustainable energy conversion engines

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 573-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwanwoo Shin
Keyword(s):  
Energy Conversion ◽  
Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide ◽  
Sustainable Energy ◽  
Living Cells ◽  
Energy Transduction ◽  
Artificial Cells ◽  
Energy Conversion Process ◽  
Metabolic Reactions ◽  
Metabolic Activities ◽  
Reduced Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide

Living cells naturally maintain a variety of metabolic reactions via energy conversion mechanisms that are coupled to proton transfer across cell membranes, thereby producing energy-rich compounds. Until now, researchers have been unable to maintain continuous biochemical reactions in artificially engineered cells, mainly due to the lack of mechanisms that generate energy-rich resources, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH). If these metabolic activities in artificial cells are to be sustained, reliable energy transduction strategies must be realized. In this perspective, this article discusses the development of an artificially engineered cell containing a sustainable energy conversion process.

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