Electricity generation from graphene for wide application

Fuel-free electricity may soon support fossil energy sources

Questions of energy development are becoming increasingly important for countries that import and export fossil raw materials – not least because many armed conflicts stem from the desire to control fossil resources. Losing dependence on fossil raw materials inevitably also leads to international détente. At the same time, the call for a technological shift towards baseload-capable renewable energy is growing ever louder. Neutrinovoltaics aims to provide answers to this already.

The energy sector in general is huge and complex. The transition from fossil to alternative technologies in electricity generation and in manufacturing the necessary equipment can bring states considerable economic benefits and strengthen their position on the “world stage” in the medium term. First of all, this means developing clusters based on fuel-free electricity generation. These naturally include solar and wind energy.

As early as 25 April 1954, Bell Laboratories announced the first silicon-based solar cells for generating electricity. The first electricity-generating wind turbine was demonstrated by the Austrian Josef Friedländer at the International Electrotechnical Exhibition in Vienna as early as 1883.

Although a great deal of time passed between the invention of these electricity-generating technologies and their wide application, the problem of generating capacity depending on the weather remains unsolved. Added to this are questions about the reliability of the installations, which can lead to considerable losses and keep large energy companies such as Shell from investing in green energy.

Intensified global competition on the energy market and the struggle of larger companies for control of energy flows are resulting in growing interest in alternative developments that no longer involve fossil fuels. Let’s seize this opportunity this time without having to wait decades:

Over the last 10–15 years, significant breakthroughs have been made in using two-dimensional materials for energy generation. In the course of research, graphene was discovered as a promising material for this purpose. Graphene is a form of carbon with unique mechanical and electronic properties that differ radically from those of three-dimensional graphite. The emergence of graphene opened up entirely new possibilities and fundamentally changed solid-state physics. During research, graphene’s ability to convert the energy of particles from radiation fields of the invisible spectrum into electric current became apparent. The unique “graphene waves” were discovered.

“Without micro-vibrations of graphene atoms there would be no graphene wave, which means that we could not convert the energy of particles of matter waves into electric current.”

Holger Thorsten Schubart, President of the Neutrino Energy Group

The Neutrino® Energy Group is an internationally leading provider of double-layer materials for fuel-free electricity generation. Thanks to research and technological developments in this field, the company was well ahead of its competitors and quickly began the industrial implementation of its scientific achievements. To this end, large companies with experience and technical capabilities were brought on board for the licensed production of fuel-free power generation devices for various purposes.

The choice of graphene for making a nanomaterial energy converter is based on its unique properties, relatively low cost and availability on the market. At the same time, graphene prices are falling. In graphene, each atom is bonded to three other carbon atoms in a two-dimensional plane, leaving one electron free in each case. These electrons are directed into the third dimension, creating an excess of electrons in the material.

“The dynamic behaviour of graphene is the process required to generate electric current through the interaction of electric and magnetic fields. In other words, the process of electricity generation is subject to a standard model of physics.”

Holger Thorsten Schubart

Innovative material for converting the energy of radiation fields

Scientists at the Neutrino® Energy Group have developed a unique material that converts the energy of particles from radiation fields into electric current. This material is a semiconductor sandwich of graphene and doped silicon, with a graphene volume fraction of between 50 and 75 per cent. Additional fundamental research is needed to understand the processes underlying this technology. It is being carried out by the Neutrino Energy Group on the basis of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and under an agreement with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).

Features of Neutrinovoltaic® technology

The developers of the technology stress that the generation of electric current is not only influenced – as the name of the technology suggests – by the flow of neutrinos with mass. Other energy fields and the thermal motion of the graphene atoms (Brownian motion) are also important factors. There may be further mechanisms that lead to energy generation.

Neutrinos: new discoveries and research

A neutrino is an elementary particle with no electric charge and a very small mass. Until recently, it was believed that neutrinos have no mass and do not interact with matter. Today, however, no one disputes that neutrinos have mass and that they interact with the atomic nuclei of substances (elastic scattering).

A group of scientists from the Faculty of Physics at Moscow State University, led by Professor A. I. Studenikin, has been studying the electromagnetic properties of neutrinos since 1992. They believe that the presence of mass indicates that neutrinos have non-zero electromagnetic properties.

Professor A. I. Studenikin suggests that the electromagnetic properties of massive neutrinos can occur both in the processes of their interaction with matter and in neutrino oscillations in external fields. However, data from laboratory experiments with neutrino fluxes from ground-based sources and from astrophysical observations have so far not yielded clear results on the non-zero electromagnetic properties of neutrinos.

Because neutrinos have a charge radius, however, we can expect the first observation of neutrinos taking part in electromagnetic interactions in the near future. Once the existence of an electromagnetic property of a neutrino has been demonstrated, its magnetic moment will also be measured.

In addition to possible electromagnetic properties of neutrinos, researchers are currently searching for the electric millicharge, the electric dipole moment and the anapole moment of the neutrino.

“Today, one of the most advanced tools for searching for the electromagnetic properties of neutrinos is measuring the elastic scattering of neutrinos on electrons and nuclei.”

Prof. A. I. Studenikin in his works

Using artificial intelligence to develop graphene power generation

The Neutrino® Energy Group points out that carrying out scientific research and creating a theoretical model of the processes taking place in graphene films is one of the important tasks. It also stresses that the use of artificial intelligence will make it possible to find optimal options for developing graphene power generation.

“Countries that are the first to bring fuel-free graphene power plants to market that generate baseload electricity 24 hours a day will undoubtedly have a technological advantage in the race.”

Holger Thorsten Schubart

Source: planet-today.ru (Russian)