Energy scavenging microdevices enabled by carbon nanotube film

Carbon nanotube film (CNF) has high absorption of light and thermal radiation. Herein energy scavenging using CNF-enabled microdevices to convert the light and thermal radiation into electricity is reported. Experiments found that this type of microdevices can generate both DC and AC voltages upon exposure to a light and thermal source, resulting from the unique electrical, optical, thermal and mechanical properties of CNF. Experiments found that the power density of the microdevices can be in the range of 4 μW/cm² to 300 μW/cm² under different operational conditions.