Plasmonic-Thermoelectric Nanogenerator

从可再生能源中收集能量是可持续和清洁发电的一个很有前途的选择。将整个电磁辐射频谱的能量作为可再生能源进行探索，将大大扩展目前的能量收集组合（如光伏、风能等），为社会提供可持续的、连续的（昼夜）能源。该项目的愿景是捕获和转换整个电磁辐射频谱，用于可再生能源收集和光子探测。为了实现这些雄心勃勃的目标，将开发一种前所未有的混合系统，该系统包含用于电磁发射捕获的等离子体吸收器，以及用于电力转换的薄膜热电（TE）模块。该项目的成功将为向资助来源（例如EPSRC和STFC）申请大规模拨款奠定科学基础。已经确定了几个中间目标：一种新型等离子体吸收模块作为局部热源的研制。其中包括a)针对宽光谱范围的能量收集的宽带吸收模块，b)用于光子探测的波长选择性吸收模块。用于能量收集和光子探测的高性能薄膜TE模块的研制[j]。对等离子体吸收模块和TE模块的混合系统进行原型设计，以演示高效率的能量收集和高响应性的光子探测。

Energy harvesting from a renewable source is a promising alternative for sustainable and clean power generation. Exploring the energy from the whole electromagnetic radiation spectrum as the renewable energy source will significantly expand the current energy harvesting portfolio (e.g. PV, wind and etc.), providing a sustainable and continuous (day and night) energy source for society. The project vision is to capture and convert the whole electromagnetic radiation spectrum for applications in renewable energy harvesting and photon detection. To achieve these ambitious goals, an unprecedented hybrid system which contains a plasmonic absorber for electromagnetic emission capture, combined with a thin film thermoelectric (TE) module for electricity conversion, will be developed. The success of this project will form the scientific foundation for large-scale grant application towards funding sources (e.g. EPSRC and STFC).Several intermediate objectives have been identified:1. Development of a novel plasmonic absorber module as the local heat source. These include a) a broadband absorption module targeting a wide spectrum range for energy harvesting, and b) a wavelength-selective absorption module for photon detecting2. Development of thin film TE modules with high performance for both energy harvesting and photon detecting applications3. Prototyping the hybrid system of the plasmonic absorber module and the TE module to demonstrate energy harvesting with high efficiency and photon detecting with high responsivity.