Frequency-Self-Adaptive Radio Frequency Power Harvester Enabled by Shape-Reconfigurable Liquid Metal

Abstract

Radio frequency (RF) energy harvester as an efficient tool for capturing and converting the flourishing ambient RF energy provides a promising solution for long-term powering the wireless sensor networks and the Internet of things (IoTs). However, the actual distribution of the environmental RF signals is dynamically frequency-dependent due to the diverse wireless terminals only interacting with specified frequencies. To take full advantage of the RF energy carrying this characteristic, an intelligent RF energy harvester is in demand to automatically sense the frequency information of an incident signal and conduct the corresponding RF-to-direct current transformation process. Here, to the best of my knowledge, a frequency-self-adaptive RF harvester is first presented with the help of the shape-reconfigurable liquid metal, which can precisely identify and efficiently convert an arbitrary signal from the frequency span of 1.8 to 2.6 GHz. Companied with a microcontroller unit and a tensile system, the dynamic functionality of the entire system is comprehensively demonstrated, showing promising potential to significantly advance various fields, including sustainable IoT applications, green wearable technologies, and self-powered devices.

Keywords

• liquid metal
• radio frequency power harvesting
• frequency-self-adaptive
• broadband rectification