THERMAL ENERGY CONVERSION USING NANO RECTENNA ARRAYS (THE MAIN FOCUS IS ON THE AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR).

This research work is concerned with the study, design and fabrication of an energy harvester for converting radiant heat to electricity using rectenna technology, with key application being on the automobiles. A review of previous works of other researchers is presented, and the main limitations hindering the realisation of a practical and functional rectenna device as well as the main factors for optimising device performance highlighted. The temperature profile of an automobile engine and exhaust was measured in order to determine the operable temperature ranges, which is a key factor when determining the optimum device dimension. The contact angles made by a 5μl drop of water on surfaces coated with different self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) were measured in order to determining the hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity of the surfaces. This gives an idea the surface energy of the dielectric films, thus giving an indication of how uniform a surface coated with such dielectric film will be. Finally, a setup for the low frequency characterisation of the diode was made and validated using ordinary diodes.