From Springer description: "We present the design considerations of an autonomous wireless sensor and discuss the fabrication and testing of the various components including the energy harvester, the active sensing devices and the power management and sensor interface circuits. A common materials platform, namely, nanowires, enables us to fabricate state-of-the-art components at reduced volume and show chemical sensing within the available energy budget. We demonstrate a photovoltaic mini-module made of silicon nanowire solar cells, each of 0.5 mm2 area, which delivers a power of 260 μW and an open circuit voltage of 2 V at one sun illumination. Using nanowire platforms two sensing applications are presented. Combining functionalised suspended Si nanowires with a novel microfluidic fluid delivery system, fully integrated microfluidic–sensor devices are examined as sensors for streptavidin and pH, whereas, using a microchip modified with Pd nanowires provides a power efficient and fast early hydrogen gas detection method. Finally, an ultra-low power, efficient solar energy harvesting and sensing microsystem augmented with a 6 mAh rechargeable battery allows for less than 20 μW power consumption and 425 h sensor operation even without energy harvesting."
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Grootschalige toepassing van zonnecellen (photovoltaic cells, PV) in de gebouwde omgeving is gelimiteerd, mede omdat dakoppervlakken niet volledig benut kunnen worden ten gevolge van de ligging en de aanwezigheid van verstorende elementen als schoorstenen, dakkapellen, daklichten, etc. Het wegennet in Nederland biedt aanknopingspunten voor integratie van PV waarmee nog meer zonlicht omgezet kan worden in elektriciteit. Een terugkerend element in de infrastructuur is de geleiderail (vangrail); alleen al in Nederland staat er 7400 km geleiderail, met een potentie van 700 MWp aan geïntegreerde PV. Op die manier wordt dubbel ruimtegebruik gerealiseerd. In dit project is dunne film PV toegepast op geleiderails langs de provinciale weg in een modulaire ‘E-cover’. De opgewekte stroom is geleverd aan het elektriciteitsnet. De verwachting is dat in de toekomst steeds meer infrastructuur voor verkeersmanagement toegepast wordt in het kader van de transitie naar “smart highways”. Dit zal een drijfveer zijn voor toepassing van het modulaire E-cover concept voor de smart highway, met lokale energieopwekking.
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Synthetic ultra-black (UB) materials, which demonstrate exceptionally high absorbance (>99%) of visible light incident on their surface, are currently used as coatings in photovoltaic cells and numerous other applications. Most commercially available UB coatings are based on an array of carbon nanotubes, which are produced at relatively high temperature and result in numerous by-products. In addition, UB nanotube coatings require harsh application conditions and are very susceptible to abrasion. As a result, these coatings are currently obtained using a manufacturing process with relatively high costs, high energy consumption and low sustainability. Interestingly, an UB coating based on a biologically derived pigment could provide a cheaper and more sustainable alternative. Specifically, GLO Biotics proposes to create UB pigment by taking a bio-mimetic approach and replicate structures found in UB deep-sea fish. A recent study[1] has actually shown that specific fish have melanosomes in their skin with particular dimensions that allow absorption of up to 99.9% of incident light. In addition to this, recent advances in bacterial engineering have demonstrated that it is possible to create bacteria-derived melanin particles with very similar dimensions to the melanosomes in aforementioned fish. During this project, the consortium partners will combine both scientific observations in an attempt to provide the proof-of-concept for developing an ultra-black coating using bacteria-derived melanin particles as bio-based, sustainable pigment. For this, Zuyd University of Applied Sciences (Zuyd) and Maastricht University (UM) collaborate with GLO Biotics in the development of the innovative ‘BLACKTERIA’ UB coating technology. The partners will attempt at engineering an E. coli expression system and adapt its growth in order to produce melanin particles of desired dimensions. In addition, UM will utilize their expertise in industrial coating research to provide input for experimental set-up and the development of a desired UB coating using the bacteria-derived melanin particles as pigment.
