Meta-Antenna and Energy harvesting/storage modules development for autarkic sensors arrays

Introduction

METATHERM will demonstrate a versatile energy harvesting and communication system for unattended environment sensor arrays, allowing the development of maintenance-free and autarkic operation devices.

Innovations

The novelty builds upon several different innovations, the main one being the microwave antenna, based on epsilon engineering using metamaterials. This design allows the antenna to show extremely high gain and extreme compactness [FETOPEN Project NANOPOLY].

Energy Efficiency

The energy efficiency of the antenna allows the electrical power needs to be decreased accordingly. This reduction enables the consideration of novel energy harvesting technologies to power the system.

Energy Harvesting Technology

In METATHERM, the energy of the sun is harvested using a novel ionic thermoelectric device. This technology is based on ion migration under a thermal gradient and shows a higher Seebeck coefficient than usual tellurium-based semiconductors without the use of rare or toxic elements. This is a significant advantage in the context of the rapidly growing energy demand for IoT and mobile electronic systems.

Energy Storage

Used in addition to a supercapacitor to store the electrical energy and a thermal energy storage device, the METATHERM platform will allow continuous operation of the device day and night.

Manufacturing Benefits

Moreover, due to the similarity in device structure between the ionic thermoelectric (iTE) device and the supercapacitor, METATHERM will benefit from the manufacturing know-how of the latter. A substantial maturity level increase is then expected for the iTE devices.

Project Goals

Finally, the project aims to develop a platform integrating all these technologies into a single device and exploring its potential applications.

Market Fit Strategy

To ensure market fit, the project plans a three-phase exploitation plan:

1. Gathering potential user interest at the beginning of the project.
2. Selecting the most promising applications at the demonstrator design stage.
3. Producing a transfer plan at the end of the project.