Surface tension mediated conversion of light to work [electronic resource]

• Ngôn ngữ: eng
• Ký hiệu phân loại: 621.47 Solar-energy engineering
• Thông tin xuất bản: Argonne, Ill. : Oak Ridge, Tenn. : Argonne National Laboratory ; Distributed by the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, U.S. Dept. of Energy, 2014
• Mô tả vật lý: Medium: ED : , digital, PDF file.
• Bộ sưu tập: Metadata
• ID: 255896
• Chủ đề: 1. 14 solar energy; 2. 30 direct energy conversion; 3. 77 nanoscience and nanotechnology

Tóm tắt

Disclosed are a method and apparatus for converting light energy to mechanical energy by modification of surface tension on a supporting fluid. The apparatus comprises an object which may be formed as a composite object comprising a support matrix and a highly light absorptive material. The support matrix may comprise a silicon polymer. The highly light absorptive material may comprise vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VANTs) embedded in the support matrix. The composite object is supported on a fluid. By exposing the highly light absorptive material to light, heat is generated, which changes the surface tension of the composite object, causing it to move physically within the fluid.