“Our approach to printed electronics could be scaled up to make inexpensive battery-less devices that could harvest energy from the environment, such as sunlight or omnipresent ambient electromagnetic waves, like those created by our mobile phones and wifi stations,” said co-lead author Professor Vincenzo Pecunia from Soochow University. “Crucially, our ultra-low-power printed electronics are simple and cost-effective to manufacture and overcome long-standing hurdles in the field.” “Thanks to deep-subthreshold ambipolar approach, we created printed electronics that meet the power and voltage requirements of real-world applications, and opened up opportunities for remote sensing and ‘place-and-forget’ devices that can operate without batteries for their entire lifetime,” said co-lead author Luigi Occhipinti from Cambridge’s Department of Engineering. The team, which included researchers from Soochow University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, ShanghaiTech University, and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), used printed carbon nanotubes – ultra-thin cylinders of carbon – as an ambipolar semiconductor to achieve the result. If electronic circuits made of these devices were to be powered by a standard AA battery, the researchers say it would be possible that they could run for millions of years uninterrupted. The team coined the phrase ‘deep-subthreshold ambipolar’ to refer to unprecedented ultra-low operating voltages and power consumption levels. The technology developed by the researchers delivers high-performance electronic circuits based on thin-film transistors which are ‘ambipolar’ as they use only one semiconducting material to transport both negative and positive electric charges in their channels, in a region of operation called ‘deep subthreshold’ – a phrase that essentially means that the transistors are operated in a region that is conventionally regarded as their ‘off’ state. Since the commercial batteries which power many devices have limited lifetimes and negative environmental impacts, researchers are developing electronics that can operate autonomously with ultra-low levels of energy. Their results are published in the journal ACS Nano. Even the ambient radio signals that surround us would be enough to power them. Now, researchers from the University of Cambridge, working with collaborators from China and Saudi Arabia, have developed an approach for printed electronics that could be used to make low-cost devices that recharge out of thin air. Although printing techniques have advanced considerably, power consumption has remained a challenge – the different solutions available were too complex for commercial production. However, these devices need to operate with low energy and power consumption to be useful for real-world applications. Printed electronics are a simple and inexpensive way to manufacture electronics that could pave the way for low-cost electronic devices on unconventional substrates – such as clothes, plastic wrap or paper – and provide everyday objects with ‘intelligence’. Many emerging technologies, from wearables to healthcare devices to smart homes and smart cities, need cost-effective transistors and electronic circuits that can function with minimal energy use. You can follow me on Twitter or stalk me on Instagram.Electronics that consume tiny amounts of power are key for the development of the Internet of Things, in which everyday objects are connected to the internet. When not hard at work, I enjoy spending time with my family, reading, running half-marathons, and investing in real estate. I began my career at Delta in 2009, managing a $650M revenue portfolio, including Delta’s 6 th largest domestic route. During my time at Virgin America, I helped lead the company to its first full year of profitability, eventually leading to its successful IPO in November 2014. Also, I was a Team Leader for Virgin America’s Pricing and Yield Management team. My focus is on investing in and accelerating transformative technology and consumer brands.īefore joining JJ Ventures, I developed and oversaw Pricing and Revenue Management operations at startups such as Domio and FlightCar. I am currently working as Director at JJ Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in real estate, travel, and hospitality technology companies.Īt JJ Ventures, I am responsible for leveraging consumer data and competitive intelligence to develop an investment thesis in an ever-evolving industry.
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