The invention that allows to use a Wi-Fi connection to charge a cell phone

Imagine that you can shit your cell phone in just seconds by connecting to the wifi.

The Spanish engineer Tomás Palacios has developed with his team of researchers at MIT, the prestigious Mbadachusetts Institute of Technology, in the United States, a device capable of achieving this futuristic dream.

It is a small device that turns the electromagnetic waves of wifi into direct current electricity to power smartphones, computers and all kinds of sensors and wearable technologies (such as smart watches).

In fact, the idea of ​​using these signals as "chargers" of electronic devices is not new: the special antennas that make this possible are called "rectenas" ( turn-around antennas).

But this is the first time that a completely flexible device is created for this purpose and without the need to use a large structure.

Palacios and his team have created from a new material called molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), one of the most sophisticated semiconductors in the world.

But how does it work?

The antenna picks up the wifi signal and connects to the device, which contains a semiconductor material. And then, the signal pbades through this material, which in turn converts these waves into electricity, which can be powered to recharge batteries or power other types of circuits.

"What we are presenting is a new way to feed the electronic systems of the future using the energy recovery of wifi signals," says Palacios in an article published on the MIT blog.

The scientist also suggests that this system has potential uses in large areas:

"When you use one of these devices, you collect energy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. […] You can cover the desk with an electronic tablecloth and even if it is only on the desk, it would collect energy all the time, "he told Nature magazine.

"What if we could develop electronic systems that would wrap a bridge or road and bring artificial intelligence to everything around us?", He wondered.

Applications in medicine

Another possible implication concerns medical devices, adds another Spanish in the team, Jesus Grajal, from the Technical University of Madrid, who also participated in the development of this device.

For example, researchers began developing ingestible pills and collecting data to establish medical diagnoses.

"The ideal is not to use batteries to charge these systems because if they release lithium, the patient may die," says Grajal. "It's best to collect the energy from the environment to feed those little pills inside the body."

In the experiments conducted by the team of scientists, it has been proven that the device is capable of producing about 40 microwatts of power when it is exposed to typical levels of wifi signals (about 150 microwatts ). This would be enough to light up the screen of a cell phone.

The few flexible ones that have been manufactured up to now operate at low frequencies and fail to convert Wi-Fi signals into enough power to charge a cell phone.