Researchers have claimed that wi-fi signals could soon be used to charge mobile phones, according to voanews.com.
A team a Duke University says that the signals could be “harvested” to charge up the devices in areas without any access to power.
The scientists discovered the findings by using metamaterials, which collect energy and convert it for other uses. They claim that this method is as effective as using solar panels. This is due to the fact that energy conversion was achieved at 37 per cent, within the trials.
The research involved the use of copper conductors and fibreglass to convert microwaves in to 7.3 volts of electricity.
Talking about the study, one of the researchers, Alexander Katko, said that this was the first study to practically test metamaterials and their uses. He told telegraph.co.uk: “Until now, a lot of work with metamaterials has been theoretical. We are showing that with a little work, these materials can be useful for consumer applications.”
Fellow team member, Allen Hawkes, added: “We were aiming for the highest energy efficiency we could achieve. We had been getting energy efficiency around six to 10 per cent, but with this design we were able to dramatically improve energy conversion.”
