Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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ISOTHERMAL ELECTRICITY FOR ENERGY RENEWAL
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority and benefit from U.S. Provisional
Application No.
62/613,912 filed on January 5, 2018. This application also claims priority and
benefit from U.S.
Patent Application No. 16/237,681 filed on January 1, 2019 that is a
continuation-in-part of co-
pending U.S. Patent Application No. 15/202,214 filed on July 5, 2016 and that
also claims
priority and benefit from U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/613,912 filed on
January 5, 2018.
These applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention is directed to a series of methods and systems
for creating and
using asymmetric function-gated isothermal electricity power generator systems
to isothermally
utilize environmental heat energy to generate electricity to do useful work.
BACKGROUND
[0003] The newly developed proton-electrostatics localization hypothesis in
understanding
proton-coupling bioenergetics over the Nobel-prize work of Peter Mitchell's
chemiosmotic
theory (Lee 2012 Bioenergetics 1:104; doi:10.4172/2167-7662.1000104; Lee 2015
Bioenergetics 4: 121. doi:10.4172/2167-7662.1000121) resulted in the following
new protonic
motive force (pmf) equation that may potentially represent a major
breakthrough advance in the
science of bioenergetics:
ic \\
2.3 RT AIP
pmf Op) = + __ p1-1,,B + log10 + [Hp+B] [1]
i+
[Nips]
/=F(nriLl(Kpi(,,H+1)
P'19/3] /
Where Aw is the electrical potential difference across the membrane; R is the
gas constant; T is
the absolute temperature in Kelvin (K); F is the Faraday constant; pHiffl is
pH of the cytoplasmic
(negative n side) bulk phase; [H+pB1 is the proton concentration in the
periplasmic (positive p
side) bulk aqueous phase such as in the case of alkalophilic bacteria; C/S is
the specific
membrane capacitance; / is the thickness for localized proton layer; Kpi is
the equilibrium
constant for non-proton cations (Ml+pB) to exchange for localized protons; and
[Ml+pB] is the
concentration of non-proton cations in liquid culture medium (Lee 2015
Bioenergetics 4: 121.
doi:10.4172/2167-7662.1000121).
[0004] The core concept of the proton-electrostatics localization
hypothesis is based on the
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premise that a biologically-relevant water body, such as the water within a
bacterium, can act as
a proton conductor in a manner similar to an electric conductor with respect
to electrostatics.
This is consistent with the well-established knowledge that protons can
quickly transfer among
water molecules by the "hops and turns" mechanism. From the charge
translocation point of
view, it is noticed that hydroxyl anions are transferred in the opposite
direction of proton
conduction. This understanding suggests that excess free protons in a
biologically-relevant water
body behave like electrons in a perfect conductor. It is well known for a
charged electrical
conductor at static equilibrium that all extra electrons reside on the
conducting body's surface.
This is expected because electrons repel each other, and, being free to move,
they will spread out
to the surface. By the same token, it is reasonable to expect that free excess
protons (or
conversely the excess hydroxyl anions) in a biologically-relevant water body
will move to its
surface. Adapting this view to excess free hydroxyl anions in the cytoplasm
(created by pumping
protons across the cytoplasm membrane through the respiratory redox-driven
electron-transport-
coupled proton transfer into the liquid medium outside the cell), they will be
electrostatically
localized along the water-membrane interface at the cytoplasmic (n) side of
the cell membrane
such as in the case of alkalophilic bacteria. In addition, their negative
charges (OH-) will attract
the positively charged species (H+) outside the cell to the membrane-water
interface at the
periplasmic (p) side.
[0005] That is, when excess hydroxyl anions are created in the cytoplasm by
the redox-driven
proton pump across the membrane leaving excess protons outside the cell, the
excess hydroxyl
anions in the cytoplasm will not stay in the bulk water phase because of their
mutual repulsion.
Consequently, they go to the water-membrane interface at the cytoplasmic (n)
side of the
membrane where they then attract the excess protons at the periplasmic (p)
side of the
membrane, forming an "excess anions-membrane-excess protons" capacitor-like
system.
Therefore, the protonic capacitor concept is used to calculate the effective
concentration of the
ideal localized protons [li] at the membrane-water interface in a pure water-
membrane-water
system assuming a reasonable thickness (1) for the localized proton layer
using the following
equation:
n C At1r At1r = lc = co
= ¨ = ¨ = ___________________________________________ [2 a]
S 1 = F d = 1 = F
where C/S is the membrane capacitance per unit surface area; F is the Faraday
constant; lc is the
dielectric constant of the membrane; co is the electric permittivity; d is the
thickness of the
membrane; and / is the thickness of the localized proton layer. This proton-
capacitor equation
[2a] is a foundation for the newly revised pmf equation [1], which includes an
additional term
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that accounts for the effect of non-proton cations exchanging with the
localized protons.
[0006] By rearranging Eq. 2a, we can also solve for the membrane potential At
1r in terms of the
ideal localized excess proton population density [I-] and the membrane
capacitance properties
including parameters such as the membrane capacitance per unit surface area
C/S; the Faraday
constant F; the membrane dielectric constant lc; the electric permittivity co;
the membrane
thickness d; and the localized proton layer thickness 1. Accordingly, the
membrane potential At1r
can now be expressed as a function of the effective concentration of the ideal
localized protons
[I-] at the membrane-water interface in an idealized pure water-membrane-
water system using
the following equation:
F = S = / = [I-4] F = d = 1 = [li]
AtIr == ______________________________________________ [2b]
K = E0
From this equation [2b], it is now quite clear that it is the accumulation of
excess protons and the
resulting ideal localized proton density [li] that essentially builds the
membrane potential AtIr
in proton-coupling bioenergetics systems.
[0007] Recently, using nanoscale measurements with electrostatic force
microscopy, the
dielectric constant (lc) of a lipid bilayer was determined to be about 3
units, which is in the
expected range of 2-4 units (Grames et al, Biophysical Journal 104: 1257-1262;
Heimburg 2012
Biophysical Journal 103: 918-929.). Table 1 lists the calculation results for
localized protons for
an idealized pure water-membrane-water system with Eq. 2a using a lipid
membrane dielectric
constant lc of 3 units, membrane thickness d of 4 nm, trans-membrane potential
difference Aw of
180 mV, and three assumed values for the proton layer thickness of 0.5, 1.0,
and 1.5 nm.
Table 1. Calculation of localized protons with Equation 2a in an idealized
pure water-
membrane-water system using a membrane dielectric constant lc of 3, membrane
thickness d of 4
nm, and trans-membrane potential difference Aw of 180 mV.
Assumed thickness (1) of ideal 0.5 nm 1.0 nm 1.5 nm
localized proton layer
Ideal localized proton density 1.238 x 10-8 1.238 x 10-8
1.238 x 10-8
per unit area (moles H+ /m2)
Effective concentration of ideal 24.76 mM 12.38 mM 8.25 mM
localized proton ([Ht] )
Effective pH of ideal localized 1.61 1.91 2.08
proton layer (00)
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[0008] As shown in Table 1, the ideal localized proton density per unit area
was calculated to
be 1.238 x 10-8 moles H+ /m2. The calculated effective concentration of ideal
localized proton
([H1,] ) was in a range from 8.25 mM to 24.76 mM if the localized proton layer
is
around1.0 0.5 nm thick. The calculated effective pH of localized proton layer
(pHL ) was 1.61,
1.91, and 2.08 assuming that the ideal localized proton layer is 0.5, 1.0, and
1.5-nm thick,
respectively. This calculation result also indicated that localized excess
protons may be created
at a water-membrane interface for possible industrial applications such as
acid-etching of certain
metals and/or protonation of certain micro/nanometer materials without
requiring the use of
conventional acid chemicals such as nitric and sulfuric acids.
[0009] International Patent Application Publication No. W02017/007762 Al
discloses a set
of methods on creating electrostatically localized excess protons to be
utilized as a clean "green
chemistry" technology for industrial applications and, more importantly, as a
special energy-
renewing technology process to isothermally utilize environmental heat through
electrostatically
localized protons at a liquid-membrane interface for generation of local
protonic motive force
(equivalent to Gibbs free energy) to do useful work such as driving ATP
synthesis. The
discovery of this isothermal protonic environmental-heat-utilization energy-
renewing process
without being constrained by the Second Law of Thermodynamics may have seminal
scientific
and practical implications for energy and environmental sustainability on
Earth. Further
development and extension from this fundamental science and engineering
breakthrough to the
other fields such as the electron-based systems for energy renewal is highly
desirable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] As inspired by the discovery that environmental heat energy can be
isothermally
utilized through electrostatically localized protons at a liquid-membrane
interface to do useful
work such as driving ATP synthesis, the present invention discloses a series
of methods on the
creation and use of asymmetric function-gated isothermal electron power
generator systems for
isothermal electricity production by isothermally utilizing environmental heat
energy which is
also known as the latent (existing hidden) heat energy from the environment
without requiring
the use of conventional energy resources such as a high temperature gradient.
A special energy-
recycling and renewing technology is provided with the associated methods and
systems to
extract environmental heat energy including molecular and/or electron thermal
motion energy
for producing isothermal electricity to do useful work, which may have seminal
scientific and
practical implications for energy and environmental sustainability on Earth.
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[0011] The present invention specially discloses an energy renewal method
for generating
isothermal electricity with making and using a special asymmetric function-
gated isothermal
electricity power generator system comprising at least one pair of a low work
function thermal
electron emitter and a high work function electron collector across a barrier
space installed in a
container (such as a vacuum tube, bottle or chamber) with electric conductor
support to enable a
series of energy recycle process functions with isothermal utilization of
environmental heat
energy for at least one of: a) utilization of environmental heat energy for
energy recycling and
renewing of fully dissipated waste heat energy from the environment to
generate electricity with
an output voltage and electric current to do useful work; b) providing a novel
cooling function
for a new type of freezer/refrigerator without requiring any of the
conventional refrigeration
mechanisms of compressor, condenser, evaporator and/or radiator by
isothermally extracting
environmental heat energy from inside the freezer/refrigerator while
generating isothermal
electricity; and c) combinations thereof
[0012] According to one of the exemplary embodiments, the present invention
teaches the
making and using of an asymmetric function-gated isothermal electron-based
power generator
system that has a low work function (0.7 eV) Ag-O-Cs emitter and a high work
function Cu
metal (4.56 eV) collector installed in a chamber-like vacuum tube comprising:
an Ag-O-Cs film
coated on the dome-shaped top end inner surface of the chamber-like vacuum
tube to serve as
the emitter; a vacuum space allowing thermally emitted electrons to fly
through ballistically
between the emitter and collector; a Cu film coated on the inversed-dome-
shaped bottom end
inner surface of the chamber-like vacuum tube to serve as the collector; a
first electricity outlet
(such as an electric conductive wire and/or lead) connected with the emitter;
and a second
electricity outlet connected with the collector.
[0013] According to one of the exemplary embodiments, the present invention
teaches the
making and using of an integrated isothermal electricity generator system that
has a narrow inter
electrode space gap size for each of three pairs of emitters and collectors
installed in a vacuum
tube chamber set up vertically comprising: a low work function film coated on
the first electric
conductor plate bottom surface to serve as the first emitter; a first narrow
space allowing
thermally emitted electrons to flow through ballistically between the first
pair of emitter and
collector; a high work function film coated on the second electric conductor
top surface to serve
as the first collector; a low work function film coated on the second electric
conductor bottom
surface to serve as the second emitter; a second narrow space allowing
thermally emitted
electrons to flow through ballistically between the second pair of emitter and
collector; a high
work function film coated on the third electric conductor top surface to sever
as a collector; a
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low work function film coated on the third electric conductor bottom surface
to serve as the third
emitter; a third narrow space allowing thermally emitted electrons to flow
through ballistically
between the third pair of emitter and collector; a high work function film
coated on the fourth
electric conductor top surface to serve as the terminal collector, a first
electricity outlet (wire)
and an Earth ground that are connected with the first electric conductor
plate; and a second
electric outlet (wire) that is connected with the fourth electric conductor.
[0014] According to one of the exemplary embodiments, the effect of an
asymmetric function-
gated isothermal electricity production is additive. Pluralities (n) of
asymmetrically function-
gated isothermal electricity generator systems may be employed in parallel
and/or in series.
When a plurality (n) of the asymmetric function-gated isothermal electricity
generator systems
are used in parallel, the total steady-state electrical current (/st(total))
is the summation of the
steady-state electrical current (ist(0) from each of the asymmetrically
function-gated isothermal
electricity generator systems while the total steady-state output voltage
(Vst(total)) remains the
same. Conversely, when a plurality (n) of the asymmetric function-gated
isothermal electricity
generator systems operate in series, the total steady-state output voltage
(Vst(total)) is the
summation of the steady-state output voltages (Vst (0) from each of the
asymmetrically function-
gated isothermal electricity generator systems while the total steady-state
electrical current
('st(total)) remains the same.
[0015] According to one of the exemplary embodiments, the present invention
teaches the
making and using of an integrated isothermal electricity generator system that
employs three
pairs of exceptionally low work function Ag-O-Cs (0.5 eV) emitters and high
work function Au
metal (5.10 eV) collectors working in series comprising: an Ag-O-Cs film
coated on the dome-
shaped top end inner surface of the vacuum tube chamber to serve as the first
emitter that has an
electricity outlet; a first vacuum space allowing thermally emitted electrons
to flow through
ballistically across the first pair of emitter and collector; a Au film coated
on the first middle
electric conductor top surface to serve as the first collector; an Ag-O-Cs
film coated on the first
middle electric conductor bottom surface to serve as the second emitter; a
second vacuum space
allowing thermally emitted electrons to flow through ballistically across the
second pair of
emitter and collector; an Au film coated on the second middle electric
conductor top surface to
serve as the second collector; an Ag-O-Cs film coated on the second middle
electric conductor
bottom surface as the third emitter; a third vacuum space allowing thermally
emitted electrons to
flow through ballistically across the third pair of emitter and collector; and
an Au film coated on
the inversed-dome-shaped bottom end inner surface of the vacuum tube chamber
to serve as the
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terminal collector connected with an electricity outlet.
[0016] According to another one of the exemplary embodiments, the present
invention teaches
the making and using of an asymmetric function-gated isothermal electricity
generator system
that has a pair of an exceptionally low work function Ag-O-Cs (0.5 eV) emitter
and a high work
function graphene (4.60 eV) collector is employed to provide cooling for a new
type of novel
freezer/refrigerator by isothermally extracting environmental heat energy from
inside the
freezer/refrigerator while generating isothermal electricity.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] Fig.
13 presents an asymmetric function-gated isothermal electron power generator
system 1000 comprising an asymmetric electron-gating function across a
membrane-like barrier
space that separates two electric conductors.
[0018] Fig.
14a presents a basic unit of an asymmetric function-gated isothermal electron
power generator system 1100 comprising a barrier space such as a vacuum space
that separates a
pair of electric conductors: one of them has a low work function film to act
as a thermal electron
emitter and the other has a high work function plate surface to serve as an
electron collector.
[0019] Fig. 14b illustrates certain characteristics in the asymmetric function-
gated isothermal
electricity generator system 1100 such as the excess holes (positive charges)
left at the emitter
will also electrostatically spread to the surface, and likewise so do the
excess electrons at the
collector under the "open circuit" condition.
[0020] Fig. 14c illustrates a preferred practice to ground the emitter with an
Earth ground at
the electricity outlet 1106 terminal of the asymmetric function-gated
isothermal electricity
generator system 1100.
[0021] Fig.
15 presents the energy diagrams of the asymmetric function-gated isothermal
electron power generator system 1100.
[0022] Fig.
16a presents an example for a pair of silver (Ag) and molybdenum (Mo)
electrodes installed in a vacuum tube as part of a fabrication process to
create an asymmetric
function-gated isothermal electricity generator system.
[0023] Fig. 16b presents an example of a prototype isothermal electricity
generating system
using a low work function Ag-O-Cs film coated on the silver electrode surface
to serve as a
thermal electron emitter.
[0024] Fig. 17a presents examples of the isothermal electricity current
density (A/cm2) as a
function of operating temperature T at various output voltage V(c) from 0.00
to 3.86 V, as
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calculated using Eq. 12 for a pair of low work function (0.70 eV) emitter and
high work function
(4.56 eV) collector; in which the emitter was grounded.
[0025] Fig. 17b presents examples of the isothermal electricity current
density curves as a
function of output voltage V(c) from 0.00 to 3.86 V at an operating
temperature of 273, 293,
298, or 303 K for a pair of low work function (0.70 eV) emitter and high work
function (4.56
eV) collector; in which the emitter was grounded.
[0026] Fig. 17c presents examples of the isothermal electricity current
density (A/cm2) curves
at an output voltage V(c) of 3.00 V as a function of operating environmental
temperature T for a
series of emitters with a low work function of 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9,
1.0, 1.1, or 1.2 eV; each
of these emitters is grounded and paired with a high work function (4.56 eV)
collector.
[0027] Fig. 18a presents examples of the isothermal electricity current
density (A/cm2) curves
as a function of output voltage V(c) from 0.00 to 5.31 V at an operating
environmental
temperature of 273, 293, 298, and 303 K for a pair of low work function (0.6
eV) emitter and
high work function (5.91 eV) collector; in which the emitter was grounded.
[0028] Fig. 18b presents examples of the isothermal electricity current
density (A/cm2) as a
function of operating environmental temperature T for a series of emitters
with low work
function values including 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3,
1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8, 2.0, or
2.2 eV; each of these emitters is grounded and paired with a high work
function (5.91 eV)
collector.
[0029] Fig. 18c presents examples of the isothermal electricity current
density (A/cm2) at an
output voltage V(c) of 4.00 V as a function of operating environmental
temperature T for a
series of emitters with low work function values including 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7,
0.8, 0.9, 1.0, 1.1,
1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8, or 2.0 eV; each of these emitters is grounded
and paired with a high
work function (5.91 eV) collector.
[0030] Fig. 18d presents examples of the isothermal electricity current
density (A/cm2) at an
output voltage V(c) of 5.00 V as a function of operating environmental
temperature T for a
series of emitters with low work function values including 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7,
0.8, or 0.9 eV; each
of these emitters is grounded and paired with a high work function (5.91 eV)
collector.
[0031] Fig. 19a presents examples of the isothermal electricity current
density (A/cm2) curves
as a function of output voltage V(c) volts from 0.00 to 4.10 V at an operating
environmental
temperature of 273, 293, 298, or 303 K for a pair of emitter work function
(0.50 eV) and
collector work function (4.60 eV), with the emitter grounded.
[0032] Fig. 19b presents examples of the isothermal electricity current
density (A/cm2) curves
as a function of output voltage V(c) volts from 0.00 to 4.10 V at
freezing/refrigerating
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temperature of 253, 263, 273, or 277 K for a pair of emitter work function
(0.50 eV) and
collector work function (4.60 eV), with the emitter grounded.
[0033] Fig. 19c presents examples of the isothermal electricity current
density (A/cm2) as a
function of operating environmental temperature T for a series of emitters
with low work
function values including 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3,
1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8, 2.0, 2.2,
2.4, 2.6, 2.8, 3.0, or 3.5 eV; each of these emitters is grounded and paired
with a high work
function (4.60 eV) collector.
[0034] Fig. 20 presents an example of an integrated isothermal electricity
generator system
1300 that comprises multiple (e.g., three) pairs of emitters and collectors
working in series.
[0035] Fig. 21a presents an example of a prototype for an isothermal
electricity generator
system 1400A that has a pair of emitter (work function 0.7 eV) and collector
(work function
4.36 eV) installed in a container such as a vacuum tube chamber.
[0035] Fig. 21b presents an example of a prototype for an isothermal
electricity generator
system 1400B that has two pairs of emitters (work function 0.7 eV) and
collectors (work
function 4.36 eV) installed in a vacuum tube chamber.
[0036] Fig. 21c presents an example of a prototype for an integrated
isothermal electricity
generator system 1400C that comprises three pairs of emitters (work function
0.7 eV) and
collectors (work function 4.36 eV) installed in a vacuum tube chamber.
[0037] Fig. 22 presents an example of an integrated isothermal electricity
generator system
1500 that has a narrow inter electrode space gap size for each of three pairs
of low work
function emitters and high work function collectors installed in a vacuum tube
chamber set up
vertically.
[0038] Fig. 23 presents an example of an integrated isothermal electricity
generator system
1600 that has three pairs of low work function emitters and high work function
collectors
installed in a vacuum tube chamber set up vertically to utilize the gravity to
help pull the emitted
electrons from an emitter down to a collector.
[0039] Fig. 24a presents an example of an isothermal electricity generator
system 1700A that
has a pair of low work function Ag-O-Cs (0.6 eV) emitter and high work
function protonated
polyaniline (4.42 eV) collector installed in a chamber-like vacuum tube
container.
[0040] Fig. 24b presents an example of an integrated isothermal electricity
generator system
1700B that has two pairs of low work function Ag-O-Cs (0.6 eV) emitters and
high work
function of protonated polyaniline (4.42 eV) collectors working in series as
installed in a
chamber-like vacuum tube container.
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[0041] Fig. 24c presents an example of an integrated isothermal electricity
generator system
1700C that has three pairs of low work function Ag-O-Cs (0.6 eV) emitters and
high work
function protonated polyaniline (4.42 eV) collectors operating in series as
installed in a vacuum
tube container.
[0042] Fig. 25a presents another example of an isothermal electricity
generator system 1800A
that has a pair of low work function Ag-O-Cs (0.7 eV) emitter and high work
function Cu metal
(4.56 eV) collector installed in a chamber-like vacuum tube container.
[0043] Fig. 25b presents another example of an integrated isothermal
electricity generator
system 1800B that has two pairs of low work function Ag-O-Cs (0.7 eV) emitters
and high work
function of Cu metal (4.56 eV) collectors operating in series as installed in
a chamber-like
vacuum tube container.
[0044] Fig. 25c presents another example of an integrated isothermal
electricity generator
system 1800C that has three pairs of low work function Ag-O-Cs (0.7 eV)
emitters and high
work function Cu metal (4.56 eV) collectors operating in series as installed
in a vacuum tube
container.
[0045] Fig. 26 presents an example of an integrated isothermal electricity
generator system
1900 that employs three pairs of exceptionally low work function Ag-O-Cs (0.5
eV) emitters
and high work function Au metal (5.10 eV) collectors operating in series as
installed in a
vacuum tube container.
[0046] Fig. 27 presents an example of an integrated isothermal electricity
generator system
2000 that employs three pairs of low work function doped-graphene (1.01eV)
emitters and high
work function graphite (4.60 eV) collectors operating in series as installed
in a vacuum tube
container.
[0047] Fig. 28 presents an example of an integrated isothermal electricity
generator system
2100 that has three pairs of low work function doped-graphene (1.01eV)
emitters and high work
function graphene (4.60 eV) collector operating in series as installed in a
vacuum tube container.
[0048] Fig. 29a presents photographs for a pair of parallel aluminum plate-
supported silver
(Ag) and copper (Cu) electrode plates (size: 40 mm x 46 mm) held together with
electric-
insulating plastic spacers (washers), screws and nuts at the four comers for
each of the two
electrode plates to make a pair of Ag-O-Cs type emitter (Cs0Ag) and Cu
collector with or
without oxygen plasma treatment.
[0049] Fig. 29b presents photographs for a pair of parallel aluminum plate-
supported silver
(Ag) and copper (Cu) collector electrode plates (size: 40 mm x 46 mm) held
together with
electric-insulating plastic spacers (washers), heat-shrink plastic tube-
insulated metal screws and
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nuts at the corners of the electrode plates. The silver (Ag) plate and copper
(Cu) collector plate
were connected by soldering with a red insulator coated copper wire and a blue
insulator coated
copper wire, respectively. The silver (Ag) electrode plate surface was coated
with a thin
molecular layer of cesium oxide (Cs20) through painting with a dilute cesium
oxide solution
followed by drying to form a type of Ag-O-Cs emitter (Cs0Ag) with or without
oxygen plasma
treatment.
[0050] Fig. 30 presents a photograph of the parts for a prototype Cs0Ag-Cu
electrobottle that
comprise a pair of parallel aluminum plate-supported silver (Ag, coated with
Cs20) and copper
(Cu) plates installed with the red and blue insulator coated copper wires
passing through a screw
bottle cap. Two blue plastic air tubes were installed through two additional
holes in the screw
bottle cap. Electric-insulating and air-tight Kafuter 704 RTV silicone gel
(white) was used to
seal the joints for the wires and tubes passing through the bottle cap.
[0051] Fig. 31a presents a photograph showing four prototype Cs0Ag-Cu
electrobottles that
were fabricated using crew bottle caps. Each electrobottle comprises a pair of
parallel aluminum
plate-supported Cs0Ag (a type of Ag-O-Cs emitter) and Cu collector electrode
surfaces
installed with red and blue insulator coated wires passing through a screw
bottle cap. After
installation and sealing with electric-insulating and air-tight Kafuter 704
RTV silicone gel
(white), air was removed from each of the electro-bottles using a vacuum pump
through the blue
plastic tubes with the bottle cap.
[0052] Fig. 31b presents a photograph of 17 prototype Cs0Ag-Cu electro-
bottles that were
made using non-screw bottle caps and sealed with electric-insulating and air-
tight Kafuter 704
RTV silicone gel (white) material.
[0053] Fig. 32a presents a photograph showing a prototype Cs0Ag-Cu
electrobottle that was
placed into a Faraday box for isothermal electricity production testing by
connecting its red and
blue insulator coated copper wires (passing across the non-screw bottle cap)
with Keithley 6514
electrometer system's Model 237-ALG-2 low noise cable-alligator clips.
[0054] Fig. 32b presents a photograph of a Faraday box made of heavy-duty
aluminum foils
containing a prototype Cs0Ag-Cu electrobottle inside for isothermal
electricity production
testing with a Keithley 6514 system electrometer.
[0055] Fig. 33a presents a photograph of a prototype Cs0Ag-Cu electrobottle
placed inside a
Faraday box and tested in normal polarity (Keithley 6514 red alligator
connector to Cs0Ag
emitter plate and black alligator connector to Cu collector plate), showing an
electric current
reading of "11.888 pA.CZ".
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[0056] Fig. 33b presents a photograph of a prototype Cs0Ag-Cu electrobottle
placed inside a
Faraday box and tested in reverse polarity (Keithley 6514 black alligator
connector to Cs0Ag
emitter plate and red alligator connector to Cu collector plate), showing an
electric current
reading of "-11.030 pA.CZ"
[0057] Fig. 34a presents a photograph of a prototype Cs0Ag-Cu electrobottle
placed inside a
Faraday box and tested in normal polarity (Keithley 6514 red alligator
connector to Cs0Ag
emitter plate and black alligator connector to Cu collector plate), showing an
electric voltage
reading of "0.10051 V.CZ".
[0058] Fig. 34b presents a photograph of a prototype Cs0Ag-Cu electrobottle
placed inside a
Faraday box and tested with an electric shorting wire between the terminals
(outlets) of Cs0Ag
emitter and Cu collector, showing an electric voltage reading of "-0.00001
V.CZ".
[0059] Fig. 34c presents a photograph of a prototype Cs0Ag-Cu electrobottle
placed inside a
Faraday box and tested in reverse polarity (Keithley 6514 black alligator
connector to Cs0Ag
emitter and red alligator connector to Cu collector, showing an electric
voltage reading of
"-0.11329 V.CZ".
[0060] Fig. 35 presents a photograph of two prototype Cs0Ag-Cu electrobottles
connected in
parallel in normal polarity (Keithley 6514 red alligator connector to Cs0Ag
emitter plates and
black alligator connector to Cu collector plates) inside a Faraday box,
showing an electric
current reading of "22.230 pA.CZ".
[0061] Fig. 36 presents a photograph of three prototype Cs0Ag-Cu
electrobottles connected
in parallel with their normal polarity (Keithley 6514 red alligator connector
to Cs0Ag emitter
plates and black alligator connector to Cu collector plates) inside a Faraday
box, showing an
electric current reading of "26.166 pA.CZ".
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0062] The present invention discloses a series of methods on the creation
and use of
asymmetric function-gated isothermal electron power generator systems for
isothermal
electricity production by isothermally utilizing latent (existing hidden) heat
energy from the
environment without requiring the use of conventional energy resources such as
a high
temperature gradient.
[0063] Accordingly, a special energy-recycling and renewing technology is
disclosed with the
associated methods to extract environmental heat energy including molecular
and/or electron
thermal motion energy for producing isothermal electricity to do useful work,
which may have
seminal scientific and practical implications for energy and environmental
sustainability on
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Earth. Specially, the present invention discloses an energy renewal method for
generating
isothermal electricity with making and using a special asymmetric function-
gated isothermal
electricity power generator system comprising at least one pair of a low work
function thermal
electron emitter and a high work function electron collector across a barrier
space installed in a
container such as a bottle with electric conductor support to enable a series
of energy recycle
process functions with utilization of environmental heat energy isothermally
for at least one of:
a) utilization of environmental heat energy for energy recycling and renewing
of fully dissipated
waste heat energy from the environment to generate electricity with an output
voltage and
electric current to do useful work; b) providing a novel cooling function for
a new type of
freezer/refrigerator without requiring any of the conventional refrigeration
mechanisms of
compressor, condenser, evaporator and/or radiator by isothermally extracting
latent energy from
inside the freezer/refrigerator while generating isothermal electricity; and
c) combinations
thereof
[0064] Philosophically, this invention is inspired by the scientific
discovery work associated
with localized excess protons disclosed by the inventor in W02017/007762 Al
and US
2017/0009357 Al, where it was revealed that environmental heat also known as
latent (existing
hidden) heat energy can be isothermally utilized through electrostatically
localized protons at a
liquid-membrane interface to do useful work in driving the synthesis of ATP
(as shown in Fig. 4
of W02017/007762 Al, US 2017/0009357 Al) without being constrained by the
second law of
thermodynamics. This type of protonic isothermal environmental heat
utilization process
apparently occurs in many proton-coupling bioenergetics systems such as the
alkalophilic
bacteria and the animal mitochondria. The case of protonic bioenergetics in
the alkalophilic
bacteria (Fig. 12 of W02017/007762 Al, US 2017/0009357 Al) probably represents
just a tip of
an iceberg in regarding to the non-second-law component of the world that had
not been fully
recognized before. It is now quite clear that the life on Earth likely
comprises a mixture of both
the second-law and the anti-second-law processes that apparently have been
going on naturally
for billions of years. For example, some biological processes such as the
metabolic process of
glycolysis appear to follow the second law of thermodynamics very well; On the
other hand, the
membrane potential (A associated local protonic motive force as expressed in
the local pmf
equation (Eq. 9 of W02017/007762 Al, US 2017/0009357 Al) clearly represents an
anti-
second-law energy-renewal mechanism. This breakthrough fundamental
understanding may
have game-changing practical implications on new energy technology development
for
sustainable development on Earth. As inspired by the fundamental understanding
of the proton-
based isothermal energy-renewing processes described above, the present
invention discloses an
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electron-based energy renewal method to isothermally utilize environmental
heat energy with
thermal electrons for electricity generation hereinbelow.
[0065] According to one of the various embodiments, this electron-based
energy renewal
method teaches how to isothermally extract environmental heat energy to
generate electricity by
teaching the making and using of an asymmetric function-gated isothermal
electron-based power
generator such as the asymmetric electron-gated system 1000 illustrated in
Fig. 13. The system
1000 (Fig. 13) comprises an asymmetric electron-gating function 1003 across a
membrane-like
barrier space 1004 that separates two electric conductors 1001 and 1002 acting
as a pair of a
thermal electron emitter and an electron collector, two electrically
conducting leads 1006 and
1007 connected with each of these electrodes 1001 and 1002 as the two power
outlet terminals
that may be connected with an electrical load 1008. The barrier space 1004 is
preferably a
special electric insulator which contains no electric conduction materials
(does not conduct
electrons through any molecular orbital-associated conduction bands) but
allows the thermally
emitted electrons to fly through ballistically across the emitter and
collector.
[0066] Therefore, according to one of the various embodiments, the barrier
space 1004
comprises a vacuum space that has no electric conductive materials and/or
molecules with
molecular orbital-associated electric conduction bands but allows the
thermally emitted
electrons to fly and/or flow through ballistically. The asymmetric electron-
gating function 1003
effectively allows freely emitted thermal electrons 1005 to ballistically fly
predominantly from
the electric conductor (emitter) 1001 through the barrier space 1004 to the
electric conductor
(collector) 1002 although the two electric conductors 1001 and 1002 are under
the same
temperature and pressure conditions. Since the barrier space 1004 is an
electrical insulating
space without the conventional conductor-based electrical conduction but has a
unique property
that allows thermal electrons to fly through ballistically, it prevents the
excess thermal electrons
captured by the collector 1002 from conducting back to the emitter except the
minimal back
emission from the collector that may be controlled by the asymmetric electron-
gating function
1003. As a result, the excess thermal electrons captured by the collector 1002
may accumulate,
thermally equilibrate and electrostatically distribute themselves mostly to
the collector 1002
electrode surface. Similarly, the excess positive charges (holes") left in the
emitter may also
accumulate and electrostatically distribute themselves mostly to the emitter
1001 electrode
surface. This results in the creation of an electric voltage potential
difference across the barrier
space 1004 between the emitter electrode 1001 and the collector electrode
1102, in a manner
that is analogous to the creation of a membrane potential Atli in proton-
coupling bioenergetics
systems as expressed in Eq. 2b.
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[0067] Note, in the cases of localized excess protons, when a protonic load
circuit such as an
ATP synthase protonic channel/load is provided, the excess protons typically
flow through the
ATP synthase protonic channel across the membrane to perform work in driving
ATP synthesis
(as illustrated in Fig. 4 of W02017/007762 Al, US 2017/0009357 Al).
Analogously, when an
external electric load circuit is connected between the emitter and the
collector, the excess
electrons in the collector can flow through the external load circuit back to
the emitter.
Consequently, in this case, the excess electrons in the collector electrode
will pass through an
external circuit comprising an electrically conducting lead as an electric
outlet 1007 (¨) and an
electrical load 1008 connected with another wire as electric outlet 1007 (+)
back to the emitter
1001 (Fig. 13). By doing so, a portion of the environmental heat energy
(thermal motion energy)
associated with the thermal electrons is utilized to perform work through use
of the electrical
load 1008 in this example.
[0068] According to one of the various embodiments as shown in Fig. 14, the
asymmetric
electron-gating function comprise a pair of a low work function film 1103
formed on the surface
of electric conductor 1101 to serve as the emitter, a high work function plate
1109 as part of
electric conductor 1102 to serve as the collector, a barrier space 1104 that
separates the emitter
and the collector, two electrically conducting leads 1106 and 1107 that are
connected with each
of these electrodes 1101 and 1102 to serve as the two power terminals that may
be connected
with an electrical load 1108.
[0069] Fig.14a illustrates a basic unit of an asymmetric function-gated
isothermal electron
power generator system 1100 comprising a barrier space 1104 such as a vacuum
space that
separates a pair of electric conductors 1101 and 1102: one of them has a low
work function film
1103 surface and the other has a high work function plate 1109 surface. The
film 1103 is made
of a low work function material such as Ag-O-Cs that has a work function as
low as about 0.7
eV to serve as the emitter. The barrier space 1104 is a special electric
insulator space such as
vacuum space that does not conduct electricity by the regular electric
conduction but allow free
thermal electrons 1105 to fly or flow through ballistically. Use of such
barrier space 1104 and
low work function film 1103 enable significant amounts of the ambient
temperature thermal
electrons to emit from the film surface into the barrier space 1104 and fly
ballistically towards
the collector that is a high work function plate 1109 such as a copper plate
which has a work
function as high as about 4.65 eV. At ambient temperature around 298 K, such a
high work
function plate 1109 practically has nearly zero emission of thermal electrons
from its surface
whereas it can accept the thermal electrons flying through the barrier space
from the emitter
1101. After the thermal electrons 1105 from the emitter 1101 flowing
ballistically across the
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barrier space arrive at the collector 1102, they as excess electrons will
electrostatically repel
each other and spread around the electric conductor 1102 (collector) surface
in a way quite
similar to the behavior of the excess protons in a proton conductive water
body illustrated in
Fig. lc of W02017/007762 Al and US 2017/0009357 Al. Similarly, the excess
holes (positive
charges) left at the emitter will also electrostatically spread around the
electrode 1101 (emitter)
surface as illustrated in Fig. 14b. As a result, this creates a voltage
difference between the
emitter 1101 and the collector 1102. Use of this voltage difference through
the terminals of
electricity outlets 1107 (-) and 1106 (+) can drive an electric current
through the load resistance
1108 to do electric work as shown in Fig. 14a. This conductive flow of
electrons through the
external load wire, better known as electricity, will continue as the excess
electrons flow
conductively through the external circuit back to the emitter where they will
get re-emitted again
for the next cycle and so on after gaining thermal motion energy from the
environmental heat of
the surrounding environment. This explains how the system 1100 can
isothermally generate
electricity by utilizing latent (existing hidden) heat from the environment.
[0070] As mentioned above, this phenomenon (Fig. 14b) is fundamentally
quite similar or
analogous to that of the excess protons in a water body separated by a
membrane barrier with
excess hydroxyl anions at the other side of the membrane as illustrated in
Fig. 1 of
W02017/007762 Al and experimentally demonstrated in Figs. 5-11 of
W02017/007762 Al and
US 2017/0009357 Al. According to the membrane potential equation (Eq. 2b)
described above,
it is the excess proton population density resulted from the accumulation of
excess protons that
builds the membrane potential Attr in proton-coupling bioenergetics systems.
Analogously, it is
the excess electron population density [eLl accumulation at the collector
electrode surface
resulted from the activity of the asymmetric function-gated isothermal
electron-based power
generator system across the emitter and the collector that builds the output
voltage V
- ¨output,
which is defined as the electrical voltage potential difference between the
emitter electrode and
the collector electrode for isothermal electricity production. Consequently,
according to one of
the various embodiments, the isothermal electricity output voltage V
- ¨output under the "open
circuit" conditions can be expressed as a function of the ideal effective
concentration of the
localized excess electrons [eLl at the collector electrode surface using the
following equation:
F = d = 1 = [eLl
Voutput = __________________________________________ [ha]
K = 0
Where F is the Faraday constant; d is the barrier space thickness that is the
distance between the
emitter and the collector; lc is the barrier space dielectric constant; co is
the electric permittivity;
and / is the localized excess electron layer thickness.
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[0071] This equation (Eq. 11a) mathematically explains how the accumulation
of excess
electron population density [ell as a result from the capturing of thermally
emitted electrons
from the emitter by the collector can build the isothermal electricity output
voltage V
- ¨output=
Consequently, the excess electrons in the collector electrode with such an
output voltage V
- ¨output
can drive an electric current through an external circuit, which comprises an
electric outlet 1107
(¨) wire connected with an electrical load 1108 that is connected with another
electric wire as
electric outlet 1106 (+) back to the emitter 1101 as shown in Fig. 14a. By
doing so, a portion of
the environmental heat energy (thermal motion energy) associated with the
thermal electrons is
utilized to perform work through use of an electrical load 1108 in this
example.
[0072] Fig. 15 presents the energy diagrams of the asymmetric function-
gated isothermal
electron power generator system 1100. As shown in Fig. 15a (left), the work
function (WF(e))
of the emitter 1101 (Fig. 14a) is the energy level difference between the
Fermi energy level
(E(F, e)) of the emitter and the vacuum energy level (E(vacuum, Go) of a free
electron that is
considered "infinitely" (Go) far away from the emitter and collector surfaces;
while the work
function (WF(c)) of the collector 1102 is the difference between the
collector's Fermi energy
level (E(F, c)) and the vacuum energy level (E(vacuum, Go). As mentioned
before, it is a
preferred practice to employ an emitter with a work function as low as
possible such as about
0.7 eV so that significant amounts of the ambient temperature thermal
electrons can emit from
the emitter surface into the vacuum barrier space 1104 and fly ballistically
with kinetic energy
(E(k)) towards the collector 1109 that has a work function (WF(c)) much larger
than that of the
emitter (WF(e)). On the other hand, essentially no ambient-temperature thermal
electrons can
emit from the high work function collector surface into the vacuum barrier
space 1104 since the
work function of the collector (WF(c)) is so big (for example, above 2.0 eV)
that the ambient-
temperature thermal electrons are essentially not able to escape from the
collector surface.
Consequently, there are statistically many more free thermal electrons 1105
flying from the
emitter 1101 into the collector 1102 than that in the opposite direction.
After the emitted
electrons arriving at the collector 1102, they will thermally equilibrate with
the environment and
electrostatically result in the creation of a voltage at the collector (V(c))
as expressed in Eq. 1 la
that can drive an electric current through an external electric load 1108 back
to the emitter 1101.
This completes a cycle of the asymmetric function-gated thermal electron power
generation
process and gets ready for the next cycles of thermal electron emission and
collection as shown
in Fig. 14a.
[0073] When the asymmetric function-gated isothermal electron power generator
system 1100
is under its "open circuit" condition (such as when the electric load 1108 is
removed) as shown
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in Fig. 14b, as mentioned before, the activity of the asymmetric function-
gated thermal electron
power generation process will result in the accumulation of excess electrons
in the collector thus
generating a negative voltage V(c) there; Meanwhile, this may also result in
the accumulation of
excess positive charges at the emitter thus generating a positive voltage V(e)
there. The negative
voltage V(c) at the collector will push up its effective Fermi level by the
absolute value of V(c)
to that of E(F, c) minus the negative voltage V(c) (labeled as "E(F, c) ¨
V(c)" in the 1100 (b) of
Fig. 15); whereas the positive voltage V(e) at the emitter will push down its
effective Fermi
level to a lower level of (E(F, e) - V(e)) as shown in the 1100 (b) of Fig. 15
(middle).
Consequently, under the "open circuit" condition, the effective work function
of the emitter at
the equilibrated state (WF(e)eq) is increased by the product eV(e) of the
election charge e and
V(e) to a higher value (WF(e) + e=V(e)) while the effective work function of
the collector
(WF(c)eq) is decreased by the absolute value of eV(c) to a lower (smaller)
value (WF(c) +
e.V(c)). The larger (higher) effective work function of the emitter (WF(e) +
e.V(e)) will reduce
and eventually pretty much cut off the ambient-temperature electron emission
at the emitter
1101 and consequently the accumulation of positive charges at the emitter will
then stop,
resulting in an equilibrated value of V(e) as shown in Fig. 15b.
[0074] According to one of the various embodiments, it is a preferred practice
to ground the
emitter with an Earth ground 1110 at the electricity outlet 1106 (+) terminal
as shown in
Fig. 14c to prevent the accumulation of positive charges there. When the
emitter is "Earth
grounded" (V(e) = 0), the effective work function of the emitter will be
retained at the initial
value of WF(e) even when the 1100 system is under the "open circuit"
condition. In this way,
the ambient-temperature electron emission at the emitter 1101 will continue
until the effective
Fermi level of the collector (E(F, c) ¨ V(c)) will rise so much by the
absolute value of V(c) that
will match at the same level of the emitter E(F, e) with WF(e) as shown in the
1100(c) of Fig. 15
(right). At this point, the back emission flow of the ambient-temperature
electrons from the
collector 1102 to the emitter 1101 will cancel the flow of the ambient-
temperature electrons
from the emitter 1101 to the collector 1102 at an equal rate. In this case, at
its equilibrium state,
V(c) will equal to the difference between the collector work function WF(c)
and emitter work
function WF(e) over the electronic unit charge (e for electron e-).
[0075] This asymmetric function-gated isothermal electron power generator
system 1100 (Fig.
14) is fundamentally different from the conventional temperature gradient-
driven thermionic
converter reported previously by Hatsopoulos and Gyftopoulos 1973 (Thermionic
Energy
Conversion, Volume I: Processes and Devices, The MIT Press, Cambridge,
Massachusetts, and
London, England). The conventional thermionic converter converts heat to
electricity by boiling
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electrons from a very hot emitter surface (-2000 K) across a small inter
electrode gap (< 0.5
mm) to a cooler collector surface (-1000 K), which requires a large
temperature gradient and
clearly is not an isothermal operation in contrast to the isothermal
electricity generation
disclosed in the present inventions. Since the thermionic converter is a form
of heat engine
which runs by using a temperature gradient, it is believed to be limited by
the Carnot efficiency,
at best. In the conventional temperature gradient-driven thermionic converter
reported by King
et al 2004 (Sandia Report, SAND2004-0555, Unlimited Release, Sandia National
Laboratory,
Albuquerque, New Mexico) and by Chou 2014 (Discovering Low Work Function
Materials For
Thermionic Energy Conversion, PhD Dissertation, Stanford University,
California), a high work
function electrode is typically used as the emitter that is heated up by a
high temperature heat
source while a low work function electrode is used as the collector that is
cooled by a cold heat
sink so that the conventional thermionic electricity generation is believed to
be driven by the
temperature difference between the heated emitter and the cooled collector in
"following the
second law of thermodynamics".
[0076] In contrast, for an isothermal electricity generator system such as the
one illustrated in
Fig. 14c, it is preferred to use a special low work function conductor as the
emitter electrode
1101 while the collector electrode 1102 is selected to have a higher work
function
predominately from the nuclear (positive) charge force. More importantly, both
the emitter 1101
and the collector 1102 can be used at the same ambient temperature (isothermal
conditions)
without requiring the use of a significant temperature gradient between the
emitter and the
collector. Consequently, the isothermal electron power generator system which
isothermally
extracts latent heat energy from the environment for generating useful
electricity perfectly
follows the first law of thermodynamics but without being constrained by the
second law of
thermodynamics owning to the use of the special asymmetric function-gated
mechanisms.
[0077] In the conventional temperature gradient-driven thermionic
converter, a conducting
electrode (emitter) is heated to high temperatures so that it emits electrons
(Wanke et al 2017
MRS Bulletin 42: 518-524). These thermionic electrons overcome the electrode's
work function
and generate a thermionic emission current. It typically requires the emitter
being heated by
using an external energy/heat source such as focused solar irradiation,
intensified chemical
combustion, or nuclear decay reaction heat to a temperature as high as 2000K
while the collector
is cooled to below about 600K using a heat sink (Sandia Report, SAND2004-
0555). Air-
breathing chemical heat sources, such as common hydrocarbon burners, cannot
achieve the
desired thermionic temperatures (-2000K) unless substantial air-preheat is
used. That is, the
thermionic converter operation is based on an exceptionally high temperature
at the emitter with
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a large temperature difference between the two electrodes (thermionic emitter
and collector).
The elevated high temperatures required by the thermionic converter impose
formidable
technical problems concerning the structure of the fuel elements and the means
of transferring
heat to the converters. The Carnot efficiency here is believed to represent
the ultimate efficiency
limit (Khalid et al 2016 IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices 63: 2231-2241).
In contrast, the
asymmetric function-gated isothermal electron power generator system disclosed
in the present
invention does not require such an elevated high temperature and is not
constrained by the
Carnot efficiency, since it can generate electricity by isothermally utilizing
the ambient
temperature latent heat energy from the surrounding environment without
requiring any of such
energy-intensive heating and/or cooling energy resources.
[0078] According to one of the various embodiments in accordance with the
present invention,
the asymmetric electron-gating function 1003 (Fig. 13) that comprises the
utilization of low
work function emitter 1103 (Fig. 14a) typically coated on the surface of an
electric conductor
1101, which is able to emit thermal electrons even at the ambient temperature
(such as 293 K
(20 C)) and the utilization of higher work function collector 1109 on an
electric conductor plate
1102 surface under the ambient temperature conditions that essentially will
not emit electrons
but be able to collect the thermal electrons from the emitter 1103. It is this
asymmetric electron-
gating function that enables the flow of thermal electrons 1105 through the
vacuum barrier space
1104 from the emitter 1103 to the collector 1109 under the isothermal
conditions, generating an
electricity output with a voltage difference across the two outlets 1106 (+)
and 1007(-) without
being constrained by the second law of thermodynamics. Therefore, this
asymmetric function-
gated isothermal electron power generator system 1100 (Fig. 14) represents a
special Anti-
Second-Law energy technology function that is capable of energy renewal by
extracting the
latent (existing hidden) heat energy from the ambient environment through the
use of thermal
electrons associated with the emitter and the collector and converting it to
useful energy in the
form of electricity under the isothermal conditions. Fundamentally, this is
somewhat similar to
the Anti-Second-Law energy renewal function disclosed previously with the
systems of
localized protons (W02017/007762 Al, US 2017/0009357 Al).
[0079] Previous study suggested that the conventional thermionic generators
could be
effective, but only at temperatures above 1000K (Hishinuma et al 2001 Applied
Physics Letters
78: 2572-2574). In contrast, the asymmetric function-gated isothermal electron
power generator
system can operate isothermally at nearly any temperatures from a freezing
temperature such as
253 K (-20 C), to ambient temperatures around 293 K (20 C), to an elevated
temperature as
high as both above and/or below 1000 K where the conventional thermionic
generators still
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cannot effectively operate. According to one of the various embodiments in
accordance with the
present invention, an asymmetric function-gated isothermal electricity
generator system is
designed to isothermally operate at a temperature or temperature range
selected from a group
consisting of 193K (-80 C), 200K (-73 C), 210K (-63 C), 220K (-53 C), 230K
(-43 C), 240K
(-33 C), 250K (-23 C), 260K (-13 C), 270K (-3 C), 273K (0 C), 278K (5
C), 283K (10 C),
288K (15 C), 293K (20 C), 298K (25 C), 303K (30 C), 308K (35 C), 313K (40
C), 318K (45
C), 323K (50 C), 328K (55 C), 333K (60 C), 338K (65 C), 343K (70 C), 348K
(75 C),
353K (80 C), 363K (90 C), 373K (100 C), 383K (110 C), 393K (120 C), 403K
(130 C),
413K (140 C), 423K (150 C), 433K (160 C), 453K (180 C), 473K (200 C),
493K (220 C),
513K (240 C), 533K (260 C), 553K (280 C), 573K (300 C), 623K (350 C),
673K (400 C),
723K (450 C), 773K (500 C), 823K (550 C), 873K (600 C), 923K (650 C),
973K (700 C),
1073K (800 C), 1173K (900 C), 1273K (1000 C), 1373K (1100 C), 1473K (1200
C), and/or
within a range bounded by any two of these values. The words "to isothermally
operate" here
means that both the emitter and collector are placed at the same temperature
and no temperature
difference between the emitter and collector is required for the asymmetric
function-gated
isothermal electricity generation to run in accordance with one of the various
embodiments of
the present invention.
[0080]
According to one of the various embodiments, it is critically important to
properly
select a special low work function conductor to serve as the emitter with
consideration of its
operating environmental temperature conditions. For example, for an asymmetric
function-
gated thermal electron power generator system that is designed to operate at a
room temperature
(around 25 C), the work function of the emitter is preferably selected to be
less than 1.0 eV,
more preferably less than 0.8 eV, even more preferably less than 0.7 eV or 0.6
eV, and most
preferably less than 0.5 eV. For an asymmetric function-gated isothermal
electron power
generator system designed to isothermally operate at a higher environmental
temperature such as
35 C, 40 C, 50 C, 60 C, 80 C, 100 C, 120 C, 150 C, 200 C and/or within a
range bounded by
any two of these values, somewhat higher work function materials may also be
selected for use
as the emitters. On the other hand, when the intended isothermally operating
temperature is
significantly lower, such as, at 15 C, 10 C, 5 C, 0 C, -5 C, -10 C, -15 C, -20
C, -30 C, -50 C
and/or within a range bounded by any two of these values, exceptionally low
work function
materials should be selected for use as the emitters.
[0081]
According to one of the various embodiments, depending on a given specific
application and its associated temperature conditions, system compositions,
and the properties of
the electrode materials and barrier space such as its thickness, capacitance
and other physical
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chemistry properties, the work function of the emitters for the purpose of
extracting
environmental heat to generate electricity may be selected from the group
consisting of 0.2 eV,
0.3 eV, 0.4 eV, 0.5 eV, 0.6 eV, 0.7 eV, 0.8 eV, 0.9 eV, 1.0 eV, 1.1 eV, 1.2
eV, 1.3 eV, 1.4 eV,
1.5 eV, 1.6 eV, 1.7 eV, 1.8 eV, 1.9 eV, 2.0 eV, 2.1 eV, 2.2 eV, 2.4 eV, 2.6
eV, 2.8 eV, 3.0 eV
and/or within a range bounded by any two of these values.
[0082] According to one of the various embodiments, the collector electrode
1102 is
preferable to have a work function higher than that of its pairing emitter
1101 (Fig. 14) so that
no appreciable isothermal electron emission occurs at the collector surface.
Depending on a
given specific application and its associated temperature conditions, system
compositions, and
the properties of the electrode materials and barrier space such as its
thickness, capacitance and
other physical chemistry properties, the work function of the collectors for
the purpose of
extracting environmental heat to generate isothermal electricity is selected
from the group
consisting of 1.0 eV, 1.1 eV, 1.2 eV, 1.3 eV, 1.4 eV, 1.5 eV, 1.6 eV, 1.7 eV,
1.8 eV, 1.9 eV, 2.0
eV, 2.1 eV, 2.2 eV, 2.4 eV, 2.6 eV, 2.8 eV, 3.0 eV, 3.2 eV, 3.4 eV, 3.6 eV,
3.8 eV, 4.0 eV, 4.2
eV, 4.4 eV, 4.6 eV, 4.8 eV, 5.0 eV, 5.5 eV, 6.0 eV, and/or within a range
bounded by any two of
these values.
[0083] As mentioned before, the work function represents the energy barrier
for an electron at
the Fermi level from escaping the solid (such as the metal conductor) to free
space. The work
function commonly comprises two components: a bulk component and a surface
component.
The dominant one is the bulk component which corresponds to the chemical
potential that
derives from the electronic density and density of states with relation to the
nuclear (positive)
charge force in the solid. The surface component (also known as the surface
dipole component)
originates with a redistribution of charges at the surface of a metal, which
give rise to the surface
dipole that is generally resulted from the "spill out" of electrons into
vacuum over some small
distance (Angstroms), creating negative sheet of charges outside the solid and
leaving a positive
sheet of uncompensated metal ions in the surface and sub-surface atomic
planes. It is this
double sheet of charges (surface dipoles) that create a potential step which
raises the electron
potential just out the surface, effectively also raising the electron vacuum
energy level at the
emitter electrode surface Evac (S). This surface dipole-associated component
may correspond to
the energy difference between the Evac (S) (the vacuum energy level at the
emitter electrode
surface) and the Evac (Go) in vacuum space far away from the surface. The
surface dipole-
associated negative charge could repel an electron away the electrode.
Consequently, the
electrons leaving the emitter surface could be accelerated towards the
collector by this repulsive
force from the emitter's surface dipole, which may be beneficial to the
isothermal electricity
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generation. On the other hand, if the collector also has a surface dipole-
associated negative
charge component that could potentially impede the reception of the electrons
emitted from the
emitter by repelling them away from the collector surface. Therefore,
according to one of the
various embodiments, it is a preferred practice to use a collector electrode
that has no or
minimized surface dipole-associated negative charge component. Alternatively,
if there is the
surface dipole-associated negative charge component on the collector surface,
it needs to be
nearly equal to or smaller than that of the emitter surface for the isothermal
electricity generator
to more efficiently operate. That is, it is beneficial to use a work function
that originates
predominately from the nuclear (positive) charge force with no or minimal
surface dipole-
associated negative charge force for the collector to better collect the
electrons emitted from the
emitter.
[0084] It is critically important to properly select a special low work
function conductor as the
emitter while the collector should have a higher work function predominately
from the nuclear
(positive) charge force. Table 6 lists various materials with known work
function (eV) values,
which may be considered for selection to use in making of the emitters and/or
collectors in
accordance with one of the various embodiments of the present invention.
Table 6. Examples of various materials with known work function (eV) that may
be considered
for selection to use in making of the emitters and/or the collectors according
to one of the
various embodiments in the present invention.
Work Material Special Note
Function (eV)
0.3 ¨ 1.0 K-0/Si(100) Wu et al 1999 Phys Rev B, 60: 17102-17106
0.5 ¨ 1.2 Ag-O-Cs Depending on experimental operating conditions
0.6 C12A7:e¨ Predicted by Rand et al 2015 IEEE Transactions
on
Plasma Science, 43:190-194
0.7 ¨ 0.8 K on WTe2 Kim et al 2017 Journal of Physics-Condensed
Matter, 29, 315702 (8pp)
0.9 P-doped diamond Koeck et al 2009 Diam. Relat. Mater.18:789-
791
<1 Ca24A128064 Toda et al 2004 Adv. Mater. 16:685
1.01 0.05 Cs/0 doped Yuan et al 2015 Nano Letters 15:6475-6480
graphene
1.07 Sri_x BaxV03 Patent Application Pub No. U52017/0207055
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1.1 Cs20-coated Ag Based on the preliminary experimental study by
the
plate surface inventor (Lee, JW)
1.2 Ba-coated SiC Lee et al 2014 Journal of
Microelectromechanical
Systems 23: 1182-1187
1.35 K-0 on silicon Morini et al 2014 Phys. Status Solidi A 211:
1334-
1337
1.4 O-Ba on W Zagwijn et al 1997 Appl. Surf Sci. 111:35
1.4 Cs on Pt metal Hishinuma et al 2001 Applied Physics Letters
78:
2572-2574
1.95 Cs (Cesium)
2.261 Rb (Rubidium)
2.29 K (Potassium)
2.36 Na (Sodium)
2.52 - 2.70 Ba (Barium)
2.7 Sm (Samarium)
2.9 Li (Lithium)
3.00 Tb (Terbium)
3.2 Nd (Neodymium)
3.40 0.06 Al metal Zhou et al 2012 Science 336:327-332
3.63 - 4.9 Zn (Zinc)
3.66 Mg (Magnesium)
4.06 - 4.26 Al (Aluminum)
4.08 Cd (Cadmium)
4.1 Mn (Manganese)
4.10 0.15 Ag(110) Derry et al 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6):
060801-9; dx.doi.org/10.1116/1.4934685
4.23 0.13 A1(110) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
4.25 Pb (Lead)
4.26 0.06 ZnO metal oxide Zhou et al 2012 Science 336:327-332
4.26 - 4.74 Ag (Silver)
4.31 0.18 A1(100) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
4.32 0.06 A1(111) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
4.32 Ga (Gallium)
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4.32 - 5.22 W (Tungsten)
4.33 Ti (Titanium)
4.36 0.05 Ag(100) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
4.36 - 4.95 Mo (Molybdenum)
4.37 0.24 Mo(111) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
4.42 Sn (Tin)
4.42 0.14 Polyaniline film Abdulrazzaq et al 2015 RSC Adv. 5:33-40
4.44 0.03 W(111) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
4.46 0.11 Mo(100) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
4.53 0.02 Mo(100) crystal Surface Science 43 (1974) 275-292
4.53 0.07 Ag(111) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
4.53 - 5.10 Cu (Copper)
4.56 0.10 Cu(110) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
Graphite Yuan et al 2015 Nano Letters 15:6475-6480
4.60 0.06 Ag metal Zhou et al 2012 Science 336:327-332
4.60 0.06 Graphene Zhou et a12012 Science 336:327-332
4.60 - 4.85 Si (Silicon)
4.60 0.33 Fe(100) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
4.62 0.06 ITO metal oxide Zhou et al 2012 Science 336:327-332
4.66 2-dimensional Zhou et al 2016 Nanotechnology 27 (2016) 344002
nickel (7PP)
4.67 - 4.81 Fe (Iron)
4.68 0.06 FTO metal oxide Zhou et al 2012 Science 336:327-332
4.70 0.06 W(100) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
4.71 Ru (Ruthenium)
4.72 0.13 Ni(110) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
4.73 0.10 Cu(100) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
4.81 0.29 Fe(111) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
4.84 0.07 W(211) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
4.86 0.21 Rh(110) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
4.90 0.02 Cu(111) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
4.90 0.06 PEDOT:PSS Zhou et al 2012 Science 336:327-332
4.92 0.05 Mo(110) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
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4.98 Rh (Rhodium)
Co (Cobalt)
-5 C (Carbon)
5.00 - 5.67 Jr (Iridium)
5.04- 5.35 Ni (Nickel)
5.07 0.04 Fe(110) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
5.07 0.20 Pd(110) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
5.10 0.10 Au metal Zhou et al 2012 Science 336:327-332
5.12 - 5.93 Pt (Platinum)
5.16 0.22 Au(110) 2015 Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): J. 060801-9
5.17 0.11 Ni(100) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
5.22 0.31 Au(100) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
5.22 - 5.60 Pd (Palladium)
5.24 0.07 Ni(111) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
5.30 0.15 Rh(100) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
5.33 0.06 Au(111) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
5.42 0.32 Jr(100) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
5.44 0.14 W(110) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
5.46 0.09 Rh(111) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
5.48 0.23 Pd(100) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
5.53 0.13 Pt(110) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
5.60 Pt metal Hishinuma et al 2001 Applied Physics Letters
78:
2572-2574
5.67 0.12 Pd(111) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
5.67 0.14 Pt(100)15X11 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
5.75 0.13 Pt(100)11X11 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
5.78 0.04 Jr(111) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
5.91 0.08 Pt(111) 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
5.93 Os (Osmium)
5.95 0.25 Ir(100)15X11 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
5.97 0.23 Ir(100)11X11 2015 J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 33(6): 060801-9
6.6 Mo03 Appl. Phys. Lett. 105, 222110 (2014)
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[0085] According to one of the various embodiments in accordance with the
present invention,
it is preferred practice to use a special low work function conductor as the
emitter electrode
while the collector electrode should have a high work function predominately
from the nuclear
(positive) charge force.
[0086] According to one of the various embodiments, the emitter is a layer or
film of a special
lower work function material 1103 coated on a conductive electrode 1101 while
the collector
1109 is a film of higher work function coated on conductive electrode 1102
and/or is simply a
plate of higher-work-function conductor. Depending on a given specific
isothermal electricity
generation application and its associated operating temperature conditions,
the emitter material
is selected from a group consisting of Ag-0-Cs, Cs20-coated Ag plate surface,
K-0/Si(100),
C12A7:e¨, K on WTe2, P-doped diamond, P-doped diamond, Ca24A-128064, Cs/0
doped
graphene, Sri _x BaxV03, Ba-coated SiC, 0-Ba on W, Cs on Pt metal and
combinations thereof
Meanwhile, the collector material is selected from a group consisting of
platinum (Pt) metal,
silver (Ag) metal, gold (Au) metal, copper (Cu) metal, molybdenum (Mo) metal,
aluminum (Al)
metal, tungsten, rhenium, molybdenum, niobium, nickel, graphene, graphite,
polyaniline film,
ZnO metal oxide, ITO metal oxide, FTO metal oxide, 2-dimensional nickel,
PEDOT:PSS,
protonated-polyaniline film and combinations thereof
[0087]
According to one of the various embodiments, the materials for making the
electric
conductors 1191 and 1102 that support the emitter and/or collector, and that
may also directly
serve as the collector are selected from the group consisting of: heat-
conducting electric
conductors, heat-conducting metallic conductors, refractory metals, metal
alloys, stainless steels,
aluminum, copper, silver, gold, platinum, molybdenum, conductive Mo03,
tungsten, rhenium,
molybdenum, niobium, nickel, titanium, graphene, graphite, heat-conducting
electrically
conductive polymers, polyaniline film, protonated-polyaniline film and
combinations thereof
[0088] According to one of the various embodiments, it is a preferred practice
to employ a
conductor with no or minimized surface dipole-associated work function
component to serve as
a collector electrode to facilitate the collection of the electrons from the
emitter. For example,
nonpolar organic conductors typically have no significant "spilling" of
electrons at the surface
and can thus be selected to use as a collector electrode.
[0089] A
major problem that has been hindering the performance of the conventional
thermionic converter is the formation of the static electron space-charge
clouds in the inter
electrode space (Physics of Plasmas 21, 023510 (2014); doi:
10.1063/1.4865828). This "space
charge problem" is minimized in the asymmetric function-gated isothermal
electricity
generation system (Fig. 14), for example, by its design to operate at a
significantly lower current
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density (J) across the interelectrode space (often in a range from sub Amp/cm2
to no more than a
few Amp/cm2) than that of the conventional thermionic converter which
typically is on the order
of over 10-100 A/cm2 (temperatures 1000-2000 K). In the conventional
thermionic converter, as
electrons are emitted into the interelectrode space with such a high current
density (1), they can
repel each other and tend to be pulled back into the emitter, which now has a
positive charge
after having lost some electrons, and to form a cloud of negative charges
close to the emitter
surface. This results in what is called the space charge effect, which later
on repels the additional
emitted electrons away from the collector, thus reducing the current
transferred to the collector.
The space charge effect also creates an additional potential barrier to
electron emission. Only
those electrons with sufficient kinetic energy are able to reach the
collector. Therefore,
according to one of the various embodiments, the "space charge problem" is
minimized by a
number of ways selected from the group consisting of: 1) by operating the
isothermal electricity
generation system (Fig. 14) naturally at a relatively lower current density
(J) across the
interelectrode space (in a range from sub Amp/cm2 to no more than a few
Amp/cm2); 2) by
grounding the emitter as shown in Fig. 14c; 3) by using a capacitor with the
emitter and/or the
collector, 4) by minimizing the interelectrode space distance between the
emitter and the
collector to the scales of micrometers and/or nanometers; 5) by using the
gravity to facilitate the
thermal electron flow from the emitter to the collector; 6) by using
positively charged molecular
structures such as protonated amine groups on the collector surface; and
combinations thereof
[0090] According to one of the various embodiments, a series of capacitors can
be used across
each of pairs of the emitters and the collectors with the isothermal
electricity outlets (illustrated
in the example of Fig. 20 below) to increase the capacitance across each pair
of the emitter and
collector to improve the stability and efficacy of the isothermal electricity
generator system.
[0091] According to one of the various embodiments, the capacitance across
each pair of the
emitter and collector is increased by properly narrowing the space separation
distance between
the emitter surface and the collector surface (illustrated in the example of
Fig. 22 below) to
improve the stability and efficacy of the isothermal electricity generator
system. A smaller and
highly evacuated interelectrode space gap distance can limit the number of
electrons travelling
within it. Excessive numbers of electrons in transit will form an electron
cloud, causing
decreased efficiency due to the space charge effect. Therefore, it is a
preferred practice to
properly minimize the separation distance between the emitter surface and the
collector surface
to increase capacitance and limit the formation of the static electron space-
charge clouds in the
inter electrode space for enhanced isothermal electricity generation.
[0092] On the other hand, the barrier space separation distance between the
emitter surface
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and the collector surface should be big enough (somewhat larger than the
electron tunneling
distance (2 or 3 nm)) to avoid electricity current leaking loss due to the
possible electron
tunneling. Considering the surface of a metal as a two-dimensional system,
electrons cannot
escape, but due to "barrier penetration", the electron density of a metal
actually extends outside
the surface of the metal. The distance outside the surface of the metal at
which the electron
probability density drops to 1/1000 of that just inside the metal is on the
order of 0.1 to 1
nanometer (nm) for electron tunneling which is strongly dependent on the
distance. The electron
tunneling distance is also depending on the property of the materials and
barrier space. For
example, electron transfer and tunneling can occur between the metal centers
in the respiratory
enzymes, typically over distances up to 20 or 30 A (2010 Laser Phys. 20(1):
125-138). It is also
known that biological lipid bilayer membrane with a thickness about 4 nm works
well as an
electric insulating barrier space with a membrane potential voltage difference
of about 200 mV.
In certain cases, larger barrier space gaps may be also desirable such as for
ease of fabrication
and certain mechanical operations. Therefore, depending on a given specific
application and its
associated temperature conditions, system compositions, and the properties of
the electrode
materials and barrier space, the inter electrode space separation distance
(gap size d) across a
pair of emitter and collector according to one of the various embodiments is
selected from the
group consisting of 2 nm, 3 nm, 4 nm, 5 nm, 6nm. 7, nm, 8nm, 9 nm, 10 nm, 12
nm, 14nm, 16
nm, 18 nm, 20 nm, 25 nm, 30 nm, 35nm, 40 nm 45 nm, 50 nm, 60 nm ,70 nm, 80 nm,
100 nm,
120 nm, 140 nm 160 nm, 180 nm, 200 nm, 250 nm, 300 nm, 500 nm, 600 nm, 700 nm,
800 nm,
900 nm, 1000 nm, 1.2 p.m, 1.4 p.m, 1.6 p.m, 1.8 p.m, 2.0 p.m, 2.5 p.m, 3.0
p.m, 3.5 p.m, 4.0 p.m,
4.5 p.m, 5.0 p.m, 6.0 p.m, 7.0 p.m, 9.0 p.m, 10 p.m, 12 p.m, 14 p.m, 16 p.m,
18 p.m, 20 p.m, 25 p.m,
30 p.m, 35 p.m, 40 p.m, 45 p.m, 50 p.m, 60 p.m, 70 p.m, 80 p.m, 90 p.m, 100
p.m, 120 p.m, 140 p.m,
160 p.m, 180 p.m, 200 p.m, 250 p.m, 300 p.m, 400 p.m, 500 p.m, 600 p.m, 700
p.m, 800 p.m, 900
p.m, 1000 p.m, 1.2 mm, 1.4 mm, 1.6 mm, 1.8 mm, 2.0 mm, 2.5 mm, 3.0 mm, 4.0 mm,
5.0 mm,
6.0 mm, 7.0 mm, 8.0 mm, 9.0 mm, 10 mm, 12 mm, 15 mm, 20 mm, 30 mm, 40 mm, 50
mm, 60
mm, 80 mm, 100 mm and/or within a range bounded by any two of these values.
[0093] According to one of the various embodiments, a barrier space
composition is selected
from the group consisting of vacuum space, semi-vacuum space, gaseous space,
inertial gas
space, special gas space, ballistic-electron-permeable porous material space,
perforated two-
dimensional (2D) materials, perforated insulator film such as perforated
Teflon film, and
combinations thereof When considering to utilize certain special gaseous
space, attention
should be paid to avoid possible side reactions associated with the gas
molecules and properties
of the electrodes and space barrier compositions and materials when the
electric field formed
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across the inter electrode space during the isothermal electricity generation
could be high
enough to cause certain side effects such as the undesirable current leaking,
plasma or radical
species formation, and 03 generation if the gaseous space containing 02 gas.
For many of the
applications, it is a preferred practice to use vacuum space as the inter
electrode space barrier
1104 (Fig. 14). Furthermore, it is also valuable to utilize perforated two-
dimensional (2D)
materials such as perforated thin insulator film such as perforated Teflon and
certain plastic
films that allow thermal electrons to ballistically fly through with minimal
absorption
coefficient. The masses of thin perforated insulator films can be extremely
small, making them
attractive for mobile applications.
[0094] According to one of the various embodiments, emitter(s) and
collector(s) are installed
in a vacuum container such as a vacuum electrotube (Fig. 16), vacuum bottle,
vacuum chamber,
and/or vacuum box with certain vacuum space. The vacuum container wall is made
with a
varieties of heat-conducting materials in combination of electric insulating
materials that are
selected from the group consisting of heat-conducting metals including
stainless steels,
aluminum, copper and metal alloys, vacuum-tube glass, vacuum lamp-bulb glass,
electric
insulating materials, carbon fibers composite materials, vinyl ester, epoxy,
polyester resin, air-
tight electric-insulating Kafuter 704 RTV silicone gel material,
thermoplastic, highly heat-
conductive graphene, graphite, cellulose nanofiber/epoxy resin nanocomposites,
heat-conductive
and electrical insulating plastics, heat-conductive and electrical insulating
ceramics, heat-
conductive and electrical insulating glass, fiberglass-reinforced plastic
materials, borosilicate
glass, Pyrex glass, fiberglass, sol-gel, silicone gel, silicone rubber, quartz
mineral, diamond
material, glass-ceramic, transparent ceramics, clear plastics, such as Acrylic
(polymethyl
methacrylate, PMMA), Butyrate (cellulose acetate butyrate), Lexan
(polycarbonate), and PETG
(glycol modified polyethylene terephthalate), polypropylene, polyethylene (or
polyethene) and
polyethylene HD, thermally conductive transparent plastics, heat conductive
and electrical
insulating paint, colorless glass, clear transparent plastics containing
certain anti-reflection
materials or coatings, clear glass containing certain anti-reflection
materials or coatings and
combinations thereof
[0095] According to one of the various embodiments, the interfacing
contact/seal between the
container wall and the electrode plates and/or electric wires is made with
heat-conductive and
electrical insulating material(s). Depending on a given specific application
and its associated
temperature conditions, the interfacing contact/seal material(s) is selected
from the group
consisting of heat-conductive and electrical insulating plastics, epoxy,
polyester resin, air-tight
electric-insulating Kafuter 704 RTV silicone gel material, thermoplastic, heat-
conductive and
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electrical insulating ceramics, heat-conductive and electrical insulating
glass, highly heat-
conductive graphene, graphite, clear plastics, for example, Acrylic
(polymethyl methacrylate,
PMMA), Butyrate (cellulose acetate butyrate), Lexan (polycarbonate), and PETG
(glycol
modified polyethylene terephthalate), polypropylene, polyethylene, and
polyethylene HD,
thermally conductive transparent plastics, heat conductive glues, electric
insulating glues, heat
conductive paint, electric insulating paint, heat conductive glass,
borosilicate glass such as Pyrex
glass, sol-gel, silicone gel, silicone rubber, quartz mineral, diamond
material, cellulose
nanofiber/epoxy resin nanocomposites, carbon fibers composite materials, glass-
ceramic
materials, transparent ceramics, clear transparent plastics containing anti-
reflection materials
and/or coating, clear glass containing anti-reflection materials or coatings
and combinations
thereof
[0096] According to one of the various embodiments, an asymmetric function-
gated
isothermal electrons-based environmental heat energy utilization system
comprises a low work
function of Ag-O-Cs coated on an Ag metal electrode surface to serve as an
emitter and a high
work function of a Cu metallic conductor to serve as a collector in a vacuum
condition.
[0097] According to one of the various embodiments, a prototype of an
asymmetric function-
gated isothermal electrons-based environmental heat energy utilization system
comprises a pair
of a low work function Ag-O-Cs film 1203 (coated on a silver electrode 1201
surface) and a
high work function Mo metallic conductor 1202 separated by a vacuum space 1204
in a vacuum
tube (Fig. 16). The Ag-O-Cs film 1203 coated on the silver electrode 1201 is
used as the emitter
while the Mo metallic conductor 1202 is used as the collector. In certain
examples, a Mo-O-Cs
film sometimes co-produced (during the Ag-O-Cs film making process) may also
be used as the
collector since it typically has a work function higher (bigger) than that of
the Ag-O-Cs film.
Figure 16 illustrates an example of how such a prototype system can be
fabricated and tested for
isothermal electricity generation. In this example, a pair of silver and
molybdenum electrodes
was installed in a vacuum tube as shown in Fig. 16a. A cesium (Cs) vapor with
a small amount
of oxygen was introduced into the vacuum electrotube. During the fabrication
process, the
molybdenum electrode was used as a temporary anode to oxidize the silver
electrode surface by
a type of oxygen plasma discharge with the Cs vapor and subsequently resulted
in the formation
of an Ag-O-Cs film on the silver electrode 1201 surface as shown in Fig. 16b.
Sometimes, this
fabrication process also results in the co-generation of a Mo-O-Cs film on the
molybdenum
electrode 1202.
[0098] According to one of the various embodiments, a prototype of an
asymmetric function-
gated electrotube system like the one shown in Fig. 16b can isothermally
generate electricity that
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can be measured at an ambient temperature such as 25 C (298 K) using the
input resistance of
an electrometer as the load. It is predicted that when the outlet terminal
1206 of emitter 1201 is
connected with a Model 237-ALG-2-type low-noise-cable positive (red) input
connector of an
electrometer while the output terminal 1207 of collector 1202 is connected
with the negative
(black) input connector, it will measure a positive electric current that is
generated by the
isothermal electricity generating system (Fig. 16b). When the asymmetric
function-gated
electrotube system and the electrometer are connected in the opposite
(reverse) orientation in
which the collector 1202 is connected to the positive (red) input connector of
the electrometer
while the emitter 1201 connected to the negative (black) input connector of
the electrometer, the
isothermal electricity generating system (Fig. 16b) is expected to give a
measurable negative
current to the electrometer.
[0099] These predicted features were successfully demonstrated in a
preliminary experiment,
where an asymmetric function-gated electrotube was placed into a Faraday
shielding box made
of metal foils and its isothermal electricity generation was measured with a
Keithley 6514
system electrometer (Keithley Instruments, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, USA). When
the emitter 1201
was connected with the positive (red) input connector alligator clip of the
Keithley 6514 system
electrometer while the collector 1202 was connected with the negative (black)
input connector
alligator clip, a positive electrical current was indeed sensed by the
Keithley 6514 electrometer.
The steady-state electrical current density normal to the cross-section area
of the interelectrode
space was measured to be 5.17 pA/cm2. Meanwhile, when the asymmetric function-
gated
electrotube system and electrometer were connected in the opposite (reverse)
orientation, a
negative electrical current with comparable amplitude was indeed measured
through the
Keithley 6514 electrometer. The steady-state electrical current density normal
to the cross-
section area of the interelectrode space measured in the reverse orientation
was ¨4.50 pA/cm2.
The averaged steady-state electrical current density from the absolute values
measured in the
two orientations was 4.84 0.34 pA/cm2.
[00100] Similarly, according to one of the various embodiments, it is
predicted that when the
emitter 1201 is connected with the positive (red) input connector alligator
clip of a Keithley
6514 electrometer while the collector 1202 is connected with the negative
(black) input
connector alligator clip, it will measure a positive voltage that is generated
by the isothermal
electricity generating system (Figure 16b). When the asymmetric function-gated
electrotube
system is connected with the electrometer in the opposite orientation, the
isothermal electricity
generating system (Figure 16b) will give a measurable negative voltage to the
electrometer.
These predicted features were successfully demonstrated in the preliminary
experiment as well.
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The steady-state output voltage averaged from the absolute values measured in
the two
orientations was about 140 mV in this example.
[0101] Based on the measured steady-state electrical current density (4.84
0.34 pA/cm2) and
steady-state output voltage (about 140 mV), the isothermal electricity power
generation density
cross-section area of the interelectrode space was calculated to be about 6.78
x 10-13 Watt/cm2 in
this example of an experimental prototype system (Fig. 16b).
[0102] Table 7 presents more examples of experimental data on the
isothermal electricity
current density of the asymmetric work function-gated electrotubes similar to
that of Fig. 16b as
measured in both the normal and reverse orientations. It was noticed that the
amplitude of the
isothermal electricity current density measured in the normal orientation
occasionally was
somewhat larger than that measured in the reverse orientation. For each of the
asymmetric work
function-gated electrotube samples 1, 2, 3 and 4 listed in Table 7, the values
of the isothermal
electricity current density measured in the normal orientation were 5.17,
4.90, 7.06 and 9.62
pA/cm2 which appeared to be slightly larger than the absolute values of those
(-4.50, ¨1.63,
¨2.72, and ¨5.52 pA/cm2) in the reverse orientation. A similar trend was
observed in the
corresponding voltage measurements; the amplitude of isothermal electricity
output voltage
measured in the normal orientation also appeared to be slightly larger than
that measured in the
reverse orientation. This might be explained by the interaction of an
asymmetric work function-
gated electrotube system with the Keithley 6514 electrometer. For example, if
the input
connector (black) of the Keithley 6514 system during the measurement somehow
gave a slightly
positive voltage to the emitter when connected as in the reverse orientation,
it could slightly
push down the Fermi level at the emitter that could reduce the ability for the
emitter to emit
electrons which could explain the somewhat decreased isothermal electricity
current density and
consequently also the reduced voltage output.
[0103] As shown in Table 7, the isothermal electricity current density
averaged from the
absolute values measured in both orientations was 3.26, 4.87, and 7.57 pA/cm2
for the
asymmetric work function-gated electrotube samples 2, 3 and 4, respectively.
The corresponding
averaged voltage output was 94, 141 and 218 mV. The isothermal electricity
power density
calculated as the product of the isothermal electricity current density and
corresponding voltage
output was 3.07 x 10-13, 6.90 x 10-13, and 1.65 x 10-12 Watt/cm2 for the
asymmetric work
function-gated electrotube samples 2, 3 and 4, respectively, under the given
experimental
conditions without any optimization efforts. Therefore, these experimental
data and the specific
details were intended to show the proof of the principle according to one of
the various
embodiments and they shall not be viewed as a limit to its performance.
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Table 7 lists more examples of experimental data on the isothermal electricity
current density
(pA/cm2) of asymmetric work function-gated electrotubes similar to that of
Fig. 16b as
measured in normal and reverse orientations and the observed output voltage
(mV) and
isothermal electricity power density (Watt/cm2).
Current Current density Averaged Averaged Isothermal
density (pA/cm2) in current output electricity
(pA/cm2) in reverse density voltage power density
normal orientation (pA/cm2) (mV) (Watt/cm2)
orientation
Electrotube 5.17 -4.50 4.84 + 0.34 140 6.78 x 10-13
sample 1
Electrotube 4.90 + 0.03 -1.63 + 0.07 3.26 + 1.64 94 3.07 x
10-13
sample 2
Electrotube 7.06 + 0.15 -2.72 + 0.25 4.87 + 2.19 141 6.90 x
10-13
sample 3
Electrotube 9.62 + 0.07 -5.52 + 0.03 7.57 + 2.04 218 1.65 x
10-12
sample 4
[0104] According to one of the various embodiments, the asymmetric function-
gated thermal
electron power generator system 1100 as illustrated in Fig. 14 operates
isothermally where the
temperature at the emitter (Te) equals to that of the collector (Tc). Under
the isothermal operating
conditions (T = Te = Tc), the ideal net flow density (flux) of the emitted
electrons 1105 from
the emitter 1101 to the collector 1102, which is defined also as the ideal
isothermal electron flux
(hõT) normal to the surfaces of the emitter and collector (also named as the
ideal isothermal
electricity current density defined as amps (A) per square centimeters of the
cross-section area
of the emitter-collector interelectrode space), can be calculated based on the
Richardson-
Dushman formulation using the following ideal isothermal current density (hõT)
equation:
lisoT = AT2(e-[WF(e)+ e = V(e)]IkT _ e-[WF(c)+ e = V(c)]IkT) [11b]
Where A is the universal factor (as known as the Richardson-Dushman constant)
can be
4mmek 2
expressed as h3 5=---% 120 Amp / (K2. C7/1.2) [where m is the electron
mass, e is the electron
unit charge, k is the Boltzmann constant and h is Planck constant]. T is the
absolute temperature
in Kelvin (K) for both the emitter and the collector; WF (e) is the work
function of the emitter
surface; the term of e = V (e) is the product of the electron unit charge e
and the voltage V (e) at
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the emitter; k is the Boltzmann constant in (eV/K); W F (c) is the work
function of the collector
surface; and e = V(c) is the product of the electron unit charge e and the
voltage V(c) at the
collector.
[0105] Of particular significance is that the conversion of environmental
thermal energy
(latent heat) isothermally to electrical power without the need for an
external energy-consuming
heater or an exhaust, heat sink or the like, so that the energy efficiency is
essentially 100%
without being constrained by the second law of thermodynamics.
[0106] According to one of the various embodiments, when the voltage at the
emitter (V(e)) is
zero such as when the emitter is grounded as illustrated in Fig. 14c, the
ideal net isothermal
electrons flow density across the vacuum space from the emitter 1101 to the
collector 1102 can
be calculated using the following modified ideal isothermal current density (J
isoT(gnd)) equation:
AT2(e¨[WF(e)]/kT _ e-[WF(c) + e = V(c)V kT) [12]
I isoT (gnd)
[0107] According to one of the various embodiments, when the voltage at both
the emitter
(V(e)) and the collector (V(c)) are zero such as at the initial state of an
isothermal electricity
generation system 1100 as illustrated in Fig. 14a (or if/when the resistance
of the circuit
including the load 1108 and associated wire, electrodes and connection
terminals 1106 and
1107, is zero), the maximum net isothermal electron flow density across the
vacuum space from
the emitter 1101 to the collector 1102 reaches the highest attainable, which
is regarded as the
"saturation" (upper limit) flux after the effects of any negative space charge
and other limiting
factors are all eliminated. This ideal saturation electron flux can be
calculated using the
following ideal saturation isothermal current density a
, isoT(sat)) equation:
I isoT(sat) = AT (e
2 ¨[WF(e)]/kT _ [13]
[0108] According to one of the various embodiments, the "open circuit" ideal
saturation output
voltage (Vsat) at the equilibrium between the emitter and collector terminals
(1106 and 1107) as
shown in Fig. 14c can be expressed as the difference in the work functions:
W F(c) ¨ W F(e)
Vsat = [14]
Where e is the electron charge which is 1 (an electron charge unit); and WF(c)
and WF(e) are
the collector work function and the emitter work function, respectively, as
illustrated in the 1100
(c) of Fig. 15 (right).
[0109] According to one of the various embodiments, the steady-state operating
output voltage
(Vst) between the emitter and collector terminals (1106 and 1107) can be
expressed as:
Vst = V(c) V(e) [15]
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Where V(c) and V(e) are the steady-state operating voltages at the collector
and emitter,
respectively, as illustrated in the 1100 (b) Fig. 15 (middle).
[0110] According to one of the various embodiments, the ideal saturation
electrical current
('sat) across the inter electrode space between the emitter and collector as
shown in Fig. 14a can
be expressed as the product of the interelectrode space cross section (emitter
surface) area (S)
and the ideal saturation isothermal electron flux as known as the saturation
current density
(JisoT(sat)) with the following equation:
'sat = S isoT(sat) = S. AT2(e¨[WF(e)]/kT _ [16]
[0111] According to one of the various embodiments, the ideal steady-
state operating
electrical current (ist) through the electrical load 1108 as shown in Fig. 14a
can be expressed as:
Ri + Rni
Ist = ________________________________________________ [17]
Vst
Where R1 is the resistance of the electrical load and Rni is any possible
miscellaneous resistance
from the circuit including the electrodes and wire materials; Vst is the
steady-state operating
output voltage as of Eq. [15].
[0112] According to one of the various embodiments, the effect of the
asymmetric function-
gated isothermal electricity generating activity is additive. That is, the
asymmetric function-
gated isothermal electricity generator systems like the one shown in Fig. 14
can be used in series
and/or in parallel. When a plurality (n) of the asymmetric function-gated
isothermal electricity
generator systems like the one shown in Fig. 14 are used in the series, the
total steady-state
output voltage (V
st(total)) is the summation of the steady-state output voltages (Vst (0 as of
Eq.
[151) from each of the asymmetric function-gated isothermal electricity
generator systems:
Vst(total) st
(V(c)i ¨ V(e)i) [18]
1=1 i=1
Similarly, the total saturation output voltage (V
sat(total)) is the summation of the saturation
output voltages (Vsat (0 as of Eq. [141) from each of the asymmetric function-
gated isothermal
electricity generator systems operating in series:
wF(,)i - WF(e)i)
Vsat(total) V sat i
n _ () n
[19]
1=1 1=1
[0113] According to one of the various embodiments, when pluralities (n) of
the asymmetric
function-gated isothermal electricity generator systems are used in the
parallel, the total ideal
electrical current (I sat(total)) is the summation of the ideal electrical
current (isat(0 as of Eq.
[161) from each of the asymmetric function-gated isothermal electricity
generator systems:
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'sat(total) = 'sat(i) [20]
=1
[0114] Therefore, the asymmetric function-gated isothermal electricity
production is additive.
Pluralities (n) of the asymmetric function-gated isothermal electricity
generator systems may be
used in parallel and/or in series, depending on a given specific application
and its associated
operating conditions such as temperature conditions, and the properties of the
barrier spaces
such as their thickness and compositions, the properties of the emitter and
collector electrodes
and other physical chemistry properties.
[0115] When a plurality (n) of the asymmetric function-gated isothermal
electricity generator
systems operate in parallel, the total steady-state electrical current
(/st(total)) is the summation of
the steady-state electrical current (Ist(0) from each of the asymmetric
function-gated isothermal
electricity generator systems while the total steady-state output voltage
(Vst(total)) remains the
same.
[0116] When a plurality (n) of the asymmetric function-gated isothermal
electricity generator
systems operate in series, the total steady-state output voltage (Vst(total))
is the summation of the
steady-state output voltages (Vst (0) from each of the asymmetric function-
gated isothermal
electricity generator systems while the total steady-state electrical current
(ist(total)) remains the
same.
[0117] Fig. 17a presents the examples of the ideal isothermal electricity
current density 0
(A/cm2 defined as amps (A) per square centimeters of the cross-section area of
the emitter-
collector interelectrode space) as a function of operating temperature T at
various output voltage
V(c) from 0.00 to 3.86 V, as calculated using Eq. 12 for a pair of emitter
work function (WF(e)
= 0.70 eV) and collector work function (WF(c) = 4.56 eV, copper Cu(110)), in
which the emitter
was grounded. Since the emitter was grounded, the output voltage equals to
V(c), which is the
difference between the collector voltage V(c) and the grounded emitter voltage
(V(e) = 0).
Consequently, the isothermal electricity current density (A/cm2) with the
output voltage V(c) of
0.00 V in the initial state as illustrated with energy diagram in the 1110 (a)
of Fig. 15 represents
the saturation isothermal current density as expressed in Eq. 13.
[0118] As shown in Fig. 17a, the ideal isothermal electricity current
density curve with an
output voltage V(c) of 3.00 V pretty much overlaps with that of the saturation
isothermal current
density (with V(c) = 0.00 V) in a temperature (T) range from 225 K to 325 K.
When the output
voltage V(c) is raised to 3.80 V, the isothermal electricity current density
curve lay only slightly
below the maximum saturation isothermal current density curve. In these cases,
the isothermal
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electricity current density increases dramatically as function of temperature
T. However, when
the output voltage V(c) is further raised to 3.86 V, the isothermal
electricity current density is
dramatically reduced to zero (a flat line), which represents the equilibrium
state as shown in the
1110(c) of Fig. 15 (right) where the thermal electron flow from the emitter to
the collector
equals to that from the collector to the emitter, resulting in a net
isothermal electricity current
density of zero.
[0119] Fig. 17b presents the examples of the isothermal electricity current
density (A/cm2)
curves as a function of output voltage V(c) from 0.00 to 3.86 V at an
operating environmental
temperature of 273, 293, 298, and 303 K for a pair of emitter work function
(WF(e) = 0.70 eV)
and collector work function (WF(c) =4.56 eV, copper Cu(110)) with the emitter
grounded.
These curves showed that the saturation isothermal electricity current density
is pretty much
constant (steady) in an output voltage V(c) range from 0.00 to 3.75 V at each
of the operating
environmental temperature of 273, 293, 298, and 303 K. Only when the output
voltage V(c) is
raised from 3.75 V to 3.86 V, the isothermal electricity current density is
dramatically reduced
to zero. At an output voltage in a range from 0 to 3.50V, the level of the
steady-state isothermal
electricity current density increases with temperature dramatically from the
level of 1.07 pA/cm2
at 273 K (0 C) to the levels of 9.39, 15.5, and 25.1 pA/cm2 at 293 K (20 C),
298 K (25 C), and
303 K (30 C), respectfully.
[0120] Table 8 lists the ideal isothermal electricity current density (A/cm2)
values as a function
of operating temperature T in a range from 203 K (-70 C) to 673 K (400 C) at
a number of
output voltage V(c) values including 0.00, 1.50, 3.00, 3.50, 3,80 and 3.86 V,
as calculated using
Eq. 12 for a pair of emitter work function (WF(e) = 0.70 eV) and collector
work function
(WF(c) = 4.56 eV, copper Cu(110)) where the emitter was grounded. The data
showed that,
with a reasonable output voltage V(c) of about 3 V, the isothermal electricity
current density is
strongly dependent on temperature T in a range from 2.07x10-11(A/cm2,
) at 203 K (-70 C) to
1.55x105 (A/cm2) at 298K (25 C), and to as much as 311 (A/cm2) at 673 K(400
C).
Table 8 presents the examples of the ideal isothermal electricity current
density (A/cm2) as a
function of operating temperature T at various output voltage V(c) from 0.00
to 3.86 V,
calculated using Eq. 12 for a pair of emitter work function (WF(e) = 0.70 eV)
and collector work
function (WF(c) = 4.56 eV, copper Cu(110)). The emitter was grounded and the
output voltage
V(c) is the voltage difference between the collector and the grounded emitter.
T (K) V(c) 0.00 V(c) 1.50 V(c) 3.00 V(c) 3.50 V(c) 3.80 V(c) 3.86
203 2.07E-11 2.07E-11 2.07E-11 2.07E-11 2.00E-11 0
213 1.49E-10 1.49E-10 1.49E-10 1.49E-10 1.43E-10 0
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223 9.04E-10 9.04E-10 9.04E-10 9.04E-10 8.64E-10 0
233 4.71E-09 4.71E-09 4.71E-09 4.71E-09 4.47E-09 0
243 2.15E-08 2.15E-08 2.15E-08 2.15E-08 2.03E-08 0
253 8.74E-08 8.74E-08 8.74E-08 8.74E-08 8.18E-08 0
263 3.20E-07 3.20E-07 3.20E-07 3.20E-07 2.97E-07 0
273 1.07E-06 1.07E-06 1.07E-06 1.07E-06 9.86E-07 0
283 3.29E-06 3.29E-06 3.29E-06 3.29E-06 3.01E-06 0
293 9.39E-06 9.39E-06 9.39E-06 9.39E-06 8.52E-06 0
298 1.55E-05 1.55E-05 1.55E-05 1.55E-05 1.40E-05 0
310 4.81E-05 4.81E-05 4.81E-05 4.81E-05 4.30E-05 0
313 6.30E-05 6.30E-05 6.30E-05 6.30E-05 5.62E-05 0
323 1.50E-04 1.50E-04 1.50E-04 1.50E-04 1.32E-04 0
333 3.39E-04 3.39E-04 3.39E-04 3.39E-04 2.97E-04 0
343 7.32E-04 7.32E-04 7.32E-04 7.32E-04 6.36E-04 0
353 0.00152 0.00152 0.00152 0.00152 0.00131 0
363 0.00302 0.00302 0.00302 0.00302 0.00258 0
373 0.00582 0.00582 0.00582 0.00582 0.00492 0
383 0.01083 0.01083 0.01083 0.01083 0.00907 0
393 0.01956 0.01956 0.01956 0.01956 0.01623 0
403 0.03435 0.03435 0.03435 0.03435 0.02824 0
413 0.05877 0.05877 0.05877 0.05877 0.04788 0
423 0.09814 0.09814 0.09814 0.09814 0.07922 0
433 0.16024 0.16024 0.16024 0.16023 0.12815 0
443 0.25616 0.25616 0.25616 0.25614 0.20296 0
453 0.40151 0.40151 0.40151 0.40147 0.31518 0
463 0.61782 0.61782 0.61782 0.61775 0.48049 0
473 0.93436 0.93436 0.93436 0.93422 0.71996 0
483 1.39028 1.39028 1.39028 1.39004 1.0614 0
493 2.03731 2.03731 2.03731 2.03688 1.54106 0
503 2.94281 2.94281 2.94281 2.94208 2.20558 0
513 4.1935 4.1935 4.1935 4.19229 3.11423 0
523 5.89976 5.89976 5.89976 5.89775 4.34142 0
533 8.20048 8.20048 8.20048 8.19725 5.97966 0
543 11.2688 11.2688 11.2688 11.26367 8.14272 0
553 15.31839 15.31839 15.31839 15.31037 10.96923 0
563 20.61061 20.61061 20.61061 20.59826 14.62655 0
573 27.46246 27.46246 27.46246 27.44373 19.31508 0
583 36.25534 36.25534 36.25534 36.22732 25.27281 0
593 47.44464 47.44464 47.44464 47.40327 32.78025 0
603 61.57024 61.57024 61.57023 61.5099 42.16566 0
613 79.26778 79.26778 79.26778 79.18081 53.81059 0
623 101.2809 101.2809 101.28089 101.15693 68.15564 0
633 128.47419 128.47419 128.47418 128.29937 85.70654 0
643 161.84712 161.84712 161.84709 161.60307 107.04041 0
653 202.54861 202.54861 202.54856 202.21123 132.81218 0
663 251.89254 251.89254 251.89246 251.43047 163.76124 0
673 311.37387 311.37387 311.37375 310.74663 200.71813 0
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[0121] According to one of the various embodiments, when the emitter is
grounded, the ideal
isothermal electricity power production density (W/cm2) at various output
voltage V(c) volts can
be expressed as:
(e-[WF(e)]/kT _ e-[WF(c)+ e = V(c)]/kT) v(c) [21]
PisoT(gnd) - AT2
[0122] Table 9 list the ideal isothermal electricity power production density
defined as Watt
(W) per square centimeters (W/cm2) as a function of operating temperature T in
a range from
203 K (-70 C) to 673 K (400 C) at a number of output voltage V(c) values
including 0.00,
1.50, 3.00, 3.50, 3,80 and 3.86 V, as calculated using Eq. 21 for a pair of
emitter work function
(WF(e) = 0.70 eV) and collector work function (WF(c) = 4.56 eV, copper
Cu(110)) where the
emitter was grounded. The data showed that the output voltage V(c) that gave
the best
isothermal electricity power production density (W/cm2) was about 3.50 V in
this example. The
isothermal power production density (W/cm2) at output voltage V(c) of 3.50 V
is strongly
dependent on temperature T, which is in a range from 7.24x10-11(W/cm2) at 203
K (-70 C) to
5.41x105 (W/cm2) at 298K (25 C), and to as much as 1090 (W/cm2) at 673 K (400
C).
Table 9 presents the examples of the ideal isothermal electricity power
production density
defined as Watt (W) per square centimeters (W/cm2) as a function of operating
temperature T at
various output voltage V(c) from 0.00 to 3.86 V, calculated using Eq. 21 for a
pair of emitter
work function (WF(e) = 0.70 eV) and collector work function (WF(c) = 4.56 eV,
copper
Cu(110)) where the emitter is grounded.
T (K) V(c) 0.00 V(c) 1.50 V(c) 3.00 V(c) 3.50 V(c) 3.80 V(c) 3.86
203 0 3.10E-11 6.21E-11 7.24E-11
7.61E-11 0
213 0 2.24E-10 4.47E-10 5.22E-10
5.45E-10 0
223 0 1.36E-09 2.71E-09 3.16E-09
3.28E-09 0
233 0 7.07E-09 1.41E-08 1.65E-08
1.70E-08 0
243 0 3.23E-08 6.45E-08 7.53E-08
7.71E-08 0
253 0 1.31E-07 2.62E-07 3.06E-07
3.11E-07 0
263 0 4.80E-07 9.60E-07 1.12E-06
1.13E-06 0
273 0 1.60E-06 3.21E-06 3.74E-06
3.75E-06 0
283 0 4.93E-06 9.86E-06 1.15E-05
1.14E-05 0
293 0 1.41E-05 2.82E-05 3.29E-05
3.24E-05 0
298 0 2.32E-05 4.64E-05 5.41E-05
5.31E-05 0
310 0 7.21E-05 1.44E-04 1.68E-04
1.63E-04 0
313 0 9.45E-05 1.89E-04 2.20E-04
2.13E-04 0
323 0 2.25E-04 4.49E-04 5.24E-04
5.03E-04 0
333 0 5.08E-04 1.02E-03 1.19E-03
1.13E-03 0
343 0 1.10E-03 2.20E-03 2.56E-03
2.42E-03 0
353 0 2.28E-03 4.56E-03 5.32E-03
4.98E-03 0
363 0 4.53E-03 9.06E-03 1.06E-02
9.80E-03 0
373 0 8.73E-03 1.75E-02 2.04E-02
1.87E-02 0
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383 0 1.62E-02 3.25E-02 3.79E-02
3.45E-02 0
393 0 2.93E-02 5.87E-02 6.85E-02
6.17E-02 0
403 0 5.15E-02 1.03E-01 1.20E-01
1.07E-01 0
413 0 8.82E-02 1.76E-01 2.06E-01
1.82E-01 0
423 0 1.47E-01 2.94E-01 3.43E-01
3.01E-01 0
433 0 2.40E-01 4.81E-01 5.61E-01
4.87E-01 0
443 0 3.84E-01 7.68E-01 8.96E-01
7.71E-01 0
453 0 6.02E-01 1.20E+00 1.41E+00
1.20E+00 0
463 0 9.27E-01 1.85E+00 2.16E+00
1.83E+00 0
473 0 1.40E+00 2.80E+00 3.27E+00
2.74E+00 0
483 0 2.09E+00 4.17E+00 4.87E+00
4.03E+00 0
493 0 3.06E+00 6.11E+00 7.13E+00
5.86E+00 0
503 0 4.41E+00 8.83E+00 1.03E+01
8.38E+00 0
513 0 6.29E+00 1.26E+01 1.47E+01
1.18E+01 0
523 0 8.85E+00 1.77E+01 2.06E+01
1.65E+01 0
533 0 1.23E+01 2.46E+01 2.87E+01
2.27E+01 0
543 0 1.69E+01 3.38E+01 3.94E+01
3.09E+01 0
553 0 2.30E+01 4.60E+01 5.36E+01
4.17E+01 0
563 0 3.09E+01 6.18E+01 7.21E+01
5.56E+01 0
573 0 4.12E+01 8.24E+01 9.61E+01
7.34E+01 0
583 0 5.44E+01 1.09E+02 1.27E+02
9.60E+01 0
593 0 7.12E+01 1.42E+02 1.66E+02
1.25E+02 0
603 0 9.24E+01 1.85E+02 2.15E+02
1.60E+02 0
613 0 1.19E+02 2.38E+02 2.77E+02
2.04E+02 0
623 0 1.52E+02 3.04E+02 3.54E+02
2.59E+02 0
633 0 1.93E+02 3.85E+02 4.49E+02
3.26E+02 0
643 0 2.43E+02 4.86E+02 5.66E+02
4.07E+02 0
653 0 3.04E+02 6.08E+02 7.08E+02
5.05E+02 0
663 0 3.78E+02 7.56E+02 8.80E+02
6.22E+02 0
673 0 4.67E+02 9.34E+02 1.09E+03
7.63E+02 0
[0123] Fig. 17c presents the examples of the ideal isothermal electricity
current density
(A/cm2) at an output voltage V(c) of 3.00 V as a function of operating
environmental
temperature T with a series of emitter work function (WF(e)) values including
0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7,
0.8, 0.9, 1.0, 1.1 or 1.2 eV in pairing with the collector work function
(WF(c) = 4.56 eV, copper
Cu(110)) with the emitter grounded. The data showed that use of emitter with a
lower work
function is highly imperative to utilize environmental heat to generate
isothermal electricity.
Therefore, according to one of various embodiments, it is a preferred practice
to employ emitter
with a low work function that is selected from the group consisting of 0.3,
0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8,
0.9, 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 eV and/or within a range bounded by any two of these
values for isothermal
electricity generation in a temperature range from 250 K to 673 K.
[0124] Fig. 18a presents the examples of the ideal isothermal electricity
current density
(A/cm2) curves as a function of output voltage V(c) volts in a range from 0.00
to 5.31 V at an
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operating environmental temperature of 273, 293, 298, and 303 K for a pair of
emitter work
function (WF(e) = 0.60 eV) and collector work function (WF(c) = 5.91 eV,
platinum Pt(111))
with the emitter grounded. These curves showed that the isothermal electricity
current density is
pretty much constant (steady) in an output voltage V(c) range from 0.00 to
5.00 V at each of the
operating environmental temperature of 273, 293, 298, and 303 K. Only when the
output voltage
V(c) is raised beyond 5.0 V up to the limit of 5.31 V, the isothermal
electricity current density is
dramatically reduced to zero. The level of the steady-state isothermal
electricity current density
at an output voltage of 5.00V increases dramatically with temperature from
7.50x105 A/cm2 at
273 K (0 C) to 4.93x104 A/cm2 at 293 K (20 C), 7.59x104 A/cm2 at 298 K (25
C), and to
1.15x103 A/cm2 at 303 K (30 C).
[0125] Fig. 18b presents the examples of the ideal isothermal electricity
current density
(A/cm2) as a function of operating environmental temperature T with a series
of emitter work
function (WF(e)) values including 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1.0, 1.1, 1.2,
1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8,
2.0, and 2.2 eV, each in pair with collector work function (WF(c) = 5.91 eV,
platinum Pt(111))
with the emitter grounded. The data showed that it is a preferred practice to
use emitter with a
lower work function to utilize environmental heat to generate isothermal
electricity. Therefore,
according to one of various embodiments, it is a preferred practice to employ
emitter with a low
work function that is selected from the group consisting of 0.3, 0.4, 0.5,
0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1.0,
1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8, 2.0, and 2.2 eV and/or within a range
bounded by any two of
these values for isothermal electricity generation in a temperature range from
250 to 1500 K.
[0126] Fig. 18c presents the examples of the ideal isothermal electricity
current density
(A/cm2) at an output voltage V(c) of 4.00 V as a function of operating
environmental
temperature T with a series of emitter work function (WF(e)) values including
0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7,
0.8, 0.9, 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8, and 2.0 eV, each in pair
with the collector work
function (WF(c) = 5.91 eV, platinum Pt(111)) with the emitter grounded. The
data showed that
it is a preferred practice to use emitter with a lower work function to
utilize environmental heat
to generate isothermal electricity. Therefore, according to one of various
embodiments, it is a
more preferred practice to employ emitter with a low work function that is
selected from the
group consisting of 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3,
1.4, 1.5, 1.6, and 1.8 eV
and/or within a range bounded by any two of these values for isothermal
electricity generation
with an output voltage V(c) of 4.00 V in a temperature range from 250 to 1500
K.
[0127] Fig. 18d presents the examples of the ideal isothermal electricity
current density
(A/cm2) at an output voltage V(c) of 5.00 V as a function of operating
environmental
temperature T with a series of emitter work function (WF(e)) values including
0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7,
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0.8, and 0.9 eV, each in pair with the collector work function (WF(c) = 5.91
eV, platinum
Pt(111)) with the emitter grounded. The data showed that it is a preferred
practice to use emitter
with a lower work function to utilize environmental heat to generate
isothermal electricity.
Therefore, according to one of various embodiments, it is a preferred practice
to employ emitter
with a low work function that is selected from the group consisting of 0.3,
0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8,
and 0.9 eV and/or within a range bounded by any two of these values for
isothermal electricity
generation with an output voltage V(c) of 5.00 V in a temperature range from
250 to 900 K.
[0128] Fig. 19a presents the examples of the ideal isothermal electricity
current density
(A/cm2) curves as a function of output voltage V(c) from 0.00 to 4.10 V at
operating
environmental temperature of 273, 293, 298, and 303 K for a pair of emitter
work function
(WF(e) = 0.50 eV) and collector work function (WF(c) =4.60 eV, graphene and/or
graphite)
with the emitter grounded. These curves showed that the isothermal electricity
current density is
pretty much constant (steady) in a range of output voltage V(c) from 0.00 to
4.00 V at each of
the operating environmental temperature of 273, 293, 298, and 303 K. Only when
the output
voltage V(c) is raised beyond 4.00 V up to the limit of 4.10 V, the isothermal
electricity current
density is dramatically reduced to zero. The level of the steady-state
isothermal electricity
current density at an output voltage of 3.50 V increases dramatically with
temperature from
5. 26x10 3 A/cm2 at 273 K (0 C) to 2.59x102 A/C11112 at 293 K (20 C), 3.73
x102 A/C11112 at 298
K (25 C), and to 5.32 x102 A/cm2 at 303 K (30 C).
[0129] Fig. 19b presents the examples of the ideal isothermal electricity
current density
(A/cm2) curves as a function of output voltage V(c) from 0.00 to 4.10 V at a
freezing and/or
refrigerating temperature of 253, 263, 273, and 277 K for a pair of emitter
work function (WF(e)
= 0.50 eV) and collector work function (WF(c) = 4.60 eV, graphene and/or
graphite) with the
emitter grounded. These curves showed that the isothermal electricity current
density is pretty
much constant in a range of output voltage V(c) from 0.00 to 4.00 V at each of
the operating
temperature of 253, 263, 273, and 277 K. Only when the output voltage V(c) is
raised beyond
4.00 V up to the limit of 4.10 V, the isothermal electricity current density
is dramatically
reduced to zero. The saturation level of the steady-state isothermal
electricity current density at
an output voltage of 3.50 V increases dramatically with temperature from
8.42x104 A/C11112 at
253 K (-20 C) to 2.18x103 A/cm2 at 263 K (-10 C), to 5.26x103 A/cm2 at 273 K
(0 C) and
to 7.36x103 Ai/CM2 at 277 K (4 C).
[0130] Fig. 19c presents the examples of the ideal isothermal electricity
current density
(A/cm2) as a function of operating environmental temperature T with a series
of emitter work
function (WF(e)) values including 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1.0, 1.1, 1.2,
1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8,
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2.0, 2.2, 2.4, 2.6, 2.8, 3.0, and 3.5 eV, each in pair with a collector work
function (WF(c) = 4.60
eV, graphene and/or graphite) with the emitter grounded. The data showed that
it is a preferred
practice to use an emitter with a lower work function to utilize environmental
heat to generate
isothermal electricity. Therefore, according to one of various embodiments, it
is a preferred
practice to employ an emitter with a low work function that is selected from
the group consisting
of 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9, 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.6, 1.8,
2.2, 2.4, 2.6, 2.8, and 3.0 eV
and/or within a range bounded by any two of these values for isothermal
electricity generation in
a temperature range from 200 to 2000 K.
[0131] Fig. 20 presents an example of an integrated isothermal electricity
generator system
1300 that comprises multiple pairs of emitters and collectors working in
series. As illustrated in
Fig. 20, the system 1300 comprises four parallel electric conductor plates
1301, 1302, 1321 and
1332 set apart with barrier spaces (such as vacuum spaces) 1304, 1324, and
1334 in between the
conductor plates. Accordingly, the first electric conductive plate 1301 has
its right side surface
coated with a thin layer of low work function (LWF) film 1303 serving as the
first emitter; The
second electric conductive plate 1302 has its left side surface coated with a
thin layer of high
work function (HWF) film 1309 serving as the first collector while its right
side surface coated
with a thin layer of low work function (LWF) film 1323 serving as the second
emitter; The third
electric conductive plate 1321 has its left side surface coated with a thin
layer of high work
function (HWF) film 1329 serving as the second collector while its right side
surface coated
with a thin layer of low work function (LWF) film 1333 serving as the third
emitter; The fourth
electric conductive plate 1332 has its left side surface coated with a thin
layer of high work
function (HWF) film 1339 serving as third (terminal) collector; The first
barrier space 1304
allows the thermal electron flow 1305 to pass through ballistically between
the first pair of
emitter 1303 and collector 1309; The second barrier space 1324 allows the
thermal electron flow
1325 to pass through ballistically between the second pair of emitter 1323 and
collector 1329;
The third barrier space 1334 allows the thermal electron flow 1335 to pass
through ballistically
between the third pair of emitter 1333 and collector 1339.
[0132] According to one of the various embodiments, it is a preferred practice
to employ: a
first capacitor 1361 connected in between the first and second electric
conductor plates 1301 and
1302; a second capacitor 1362 linked in between the second and third conductor
plates 1302 and
1321; a third capacitor 1363 used in between third and the fourth conductor
plates 1321 and
1332 as illustrated in Fig. 20. The use of capacitors in this manner can
typically provide better
system stability and robust isothermal electricity delivery. In this example
with the first
conductor plate 1301 grounded, isothermal electricity can be delivered through
outlet terminals
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1306 and 1376 or 1377 depending on the specific output power needs. When the
isothermal
electricity is delivered through outlet terminals 1306 and 1376 across a pair
of emitter and
collector, the steady-state operating output voltage equals to V(c), which
typically can be around
3-4 V depending on the system operating conditions including the load
resistance and the
difference in work function between the emitter and the collector. When the
isothermal
electricity is delivered through outlet terminals 1306 and 1377 across three
pairs of emitters and
collectors, the steady-state operating output voltage is 3xVc, which typically
can be about 9-12
V in this example.
[0133] According to one of the various embodiments, the isothermal electricity
of the 1300
system (Fig. 20) can be delivered also through outlet termina1s1376 and 1377.
In this case, the
V(c) voltage at the second electric conductor plate 1302 generated by the
activity of the first
emitter (conductor 1301 with LWF film 1303) and first collector (HWF plate
1309) may serve
as a bias voltage for the second emitter (LWF film 1323 on the right side
surface of the second
electric conductor plate 1302) so that the second emitter 1323 will more
readily emit thermal
electrons towards the second collector 1329 on the left side surface of the
third conductor plate
1321 which has the third emitter 1333. Subsequently, the V(c) created at the
second collector
1329 of the third conductor plate 1321 can serve as a bias voltage for the
third emitter 1333 to
more readily emit thermal electrons towards the terminal collector 1339 at the
fourth conductor
plate 1332 to facilitate the generation of isothermal electricity for delivery
through the outlet
termina1s1376 and 1377. Therefore, use of this special feature can help better
extract
environmental energy especially when the operating environmental temperature
is relatively low
or when the work function of certain emitters alone may not be entirely low
enough to function
effectively. When the isothermal electricity is delivered through the outlet
termina1s1376 and
1377, the steady-state operating output voltage is 2xVc, which typically can
be about 6-8 V in
this case.
[0134] Fig. 21a presents an example of a prototype for an isothermal
electricity generator
system 1400A that has a pair of emitter (work function 0.7 eV) and collector
(work function
4.36 eV) installed in a vacuum tube chamber. As illustrated in Fig. 21a, the
system 1400A
comprises a thin layer of low work function Ag-O-Cs film 1403 coated on the
right side surface
of electric conductor plate 1401 to serve as the emitter, a vacuum space 1404
allowing the
thermal electron flow 1405 to pass through ballistically between the emitter
and collector, a high
work function Mo film/plate 1439 coated on the left side surface of the second
electric
conductor plate 1432 facing the emitter 1403 to serve as the collector, a
vacuum tube wall 1450
that is in contact with the edges of the electric conductor plates 1401 and
1432 to allow
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environmental heat to transfer between the tube wall and the electric
conductor plates 1401
(emitter) and 1432 (collector), a first electricity outlet 1406 connected with
the first electric
conductor plate 1401, an second electricity outlet 1477 connected with the
second electric
conductor plate 1432, a capacitor 1461 that is connected in between the two
electricity outlets
1406 and 1477, and an Earth ground 1410 that is connected with the first
electricity outlet
1406.
[0135] The isothermal electricity generator system 1400A (Fig. 21a) is similar
to the prototype
of Fig. 16b, except that the effective heat-conduction contact of vacuum tube
wall 1450 with the
edges of the two electric conductor plates 1401 and 1432 in the system 1400A
allow more
efficient transfer of environmental heat from the tube wall to both the
emitter and collector
system than the prototype of Fig. 16b. Furthermore, the use of Earth ground
1410 and capacitor
1461 with the electricity outlets 1406 and 1477 as illustrated in Fig. 21a
provides more stable
and better system performance for isothermal electricity generation and
delivery than the
prototype of Fig. 16b as well.
[0136] As shown in Table 6, the work function of Mo film is about 4.36 eV and
the work
function of Ag-O-Cs film can be made to be anywhere between 0.5 and 1.2 eV. In
the example
with the isothermal electricity generator system 1400A, the work function of
Ag-O-Cs film was
selected to be 0.7 eV for use as the emitter while the work function of Mo
film was 4.36 eV for
use as the collector as illustrated in Fig. 21a. Accordingly, when the
isothermal electricity is
delivered through the outlet termina1s1406 and 1477, the steady-state
operating output voltage
can typically be about 3.5 V in this case. Its saturation isothermal
electricity current density (at
output voltage of 3.5 V) is 1.55x10-5 (A/cm2) at the standard ambient
temperature of 298 K (25
C). The characteristic pattern of the ideal isothermal electricity current
density (A/cm2) as a
function of operating temperature T at various output voltage V(c) for this
system is also similar
to that of the system with a pair of emitter work function (0.70 eV) and
collector work function
(4.56 eV, copper Cu(110)) presented in Fig. 17b.
[0137] Fig. 21b presents an example of a prototype for an isothermal
electricity generator
system 1400B that has two pairs of emitters (work function 0.7 eV) and
collectors (work
function 4.36 eV) installed in a vacuum tube chamber. As illustrated in Fig.
21b, the system
1400B comprises: the thin layer of low work function (0.7 eV) Ag-O-Cs film
1403 coated on the
first electric conductor plate 1401 right side surface to serve as the first
emitter; the first vacuum
space 1404 allowing the thermal electron flow 1405 to pass through
ballistically between the
first pair of emitter and collector; the high work function (4.36 eV) Mo
film/plate 1409 coated
on the second electric conductor p1ate1402 left side surface facing the first
emitter to serve as
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the first collector; the thin layer of low work function Ag-O-Cs film 1423
coated on the second
electric conductor plate 1402 right side surface to serve as the second
emitter; the second
vacuum space 1424 allowing the thermal electron flow 1425 to pass through
ballistically
between the second pair of emitter and collector; the high work function Mo
film/plate 1439
coated on the third electric conductor plate 1432 left side surface facing the
second emitter to
serve as the terminal collector; the vacuum tube wall 1450 that is in contact
with the edges of the
three electric conductor plates 1401, 1402 and 1432 to allow the environmental
heat to transfer
from the tube wall to the electric conductor plates 1401 (emitter), 1402
(collector/emitter) and
1432 (collector); the first electricity outlet 1406 connected with the first
electric conductor plate
1401; the second electricity outlet 1476 connected with the second electric
conductor plate 1402;
the third electricity outlet 1477 connected with the third electric conductor
plate 1432; the first
capacitor 1461 that is connected in between the first and second electric
conductor plates 1401
and 1402; the second capacitor 1462 that is connected in between the second
and third electric
conductor plates 1402 and 1432; and an Earth ground 1410 that is connected
with the first
conductor plate 1401.
[0138] The isothermal electricity generator system 1400B (Fig. 21b) is similar
to the system
1400A (Fig. 21a), except that the middle electrode plate 1402 is coated with a
Mo film 1409 on
its left side surface and with Ag-O-Cs film at its right side surface to
simultaneously serve as the
first collector and the second emitter, respectively. Consequently, this
system has two pairs of
emitters and collectors working in series. According to Eq. 18, when a
plurality (n) of the
asymmetrically gated isothermal electricity generators are used in the series,
the total steady-
state output voltage (V
st(total)) is the summation of the output voltages from each of the
asymmetrically gated isothermal electricity generators. Therefore, when the
isothermal
electricity is delivered through the outlet termina1s1406 and 1477, the total
steady-state output
voltage (Vst(total)) of the system 1400B is about 2 x 3.5 V in this example.
However, the total
saturation isothermal electricity current density (at output voltage of 7 V)
is still about 1.55x10-5
(A/cm2) at the standard ambient operating temperature of 298 K (25 C).
[0139] Furthermore, this system 1400B is designed to provide an option to
deliver the
isothermal electricity through the outlet terminals1476 and 1477, leaving the
V(c) voltage (about
3.5 V) generated by the first pair of emitter (Ag-O-Cs film 1403) and
collector (Mo film/plate
1409) to serves as a bias voltage for the second emitter (Ag-O-Cs film 1423 on
the second
conductor plate 1402 right side surface) to more readily emit thermal
electrons towards the
terminal collector (Mo film/plate 1439) of the third conductor plate 1432.
Sometimes, use of this
option can help better extract environmental heat energy especially when the
operating
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environmental temperature is relatively low or when the work function of
certain emitters alone
may not be low enough to function effectively. When the isothermal electricity
is delivered
through the outlet terminals1476 and 1477, the steady-state operating output
voltage is typically
about 3.5 V in this example.
[0140] Fig. 21c presents an example of a prototype for an integrated
isothermal electricity
generator system 1400C that has three pairs of emitters (work function 0.7 eV)
and collectors
(work function 4.36 eV) installed in a vacuum tube. As illustrated in Fig.
21c, the system 1400
comprises: a thin layer of low work function (0.7 eV) Ag-O-Cs film 1403 coated
on the first
electric conductor plate 1401 right side surface to serve as the first
emitter; a first vacuum space
1404 allowing the thermal electron flow 1405 to pass through ballistically
between the first pair
of emitter and collector; a (high work function 4.36 eV) Mo film/plate 1409
coated on the
second electric conductor plate 1402 left side surface facing the first
emitter to serve as the first
collector; a thin layer of low work function (0.7 eV) Ag-O-Cs film 1423 coated
on a second
electric conductor plate 1402 right side surface to serve as the second
emitter; a second vacuum
space 1424 allowing the thermal electron flow 1425 to pass through
ballistically between the
second pair of emitter and collector; a (high work function 4.36 eV) Mo
film/plate 1429 coated
on a third electric conductor plate 1421 left side surface facing the second
emitter to serve as the
second collector; a thin layer of low work function (0.7 eV) Ag-O-Cs film 1433
coated on a
third electric conductor plate 1421 right side surface to serve as the third
emitter; a third vacuum
space 1434 allowing the thermal electron flow 1435 to pass through
ballistically between the
third pair of emitter and collector; a (work function 4.36 eV) Mo film/plate
1439 coated on a
fourth electric conductor plate 1432 left side surface facing the third
emitter to serve as the
terminal collector; a vacuum tube wall 1450 that is in contact with the edges
of the electric
conductor plates 1401, 1402. 1421 and 1432 to allow environmental heat to
transfer from the
tube wall to the electric conductor plates 1401 (emitter), 1402
(collector/emitter), 1421
(collector/emitter) and 1432 (collector); a first electricity outlet 1406
connected with the first
electric conductor plate 1401; a second electricity outlet 1476 connected with
the second electric
conductor plate 1402; a third electricity outlet 1477 connected with the
fourth electric conductor
plate 1432; a first capacitor 1461 that is connected in between the first and
second electric
conductor plates 1401 and 1402; a second capacitor 1462 that is connected in
between the
second and third electric conductor plates 1402 and 1421; a third capacitor
1463 that is
connected in between the third electric conductor plate 1421 and the fourth
electric conductor
plate 1432; and an Earth ground 1410 that is connected with the first electric
conductor plates
1401.
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[0141] As illustrated in Fig. 21c, the isothermal electricity in this
example can be delivered
through outlet terminals 1406 and 1476 or 1477 depending on the specific
output power needs.
When the isothermal electricity is delivered through outlet terminals 1406 and
1476 across a pair
of emitter and collector, the steady-state operating output voltage equals to
V(c), which typically
can be around 3.5 V depending on the system operating conditions including the
load impedance
and the difference in work function between the emitter and the collector. The
saturation
isothermal electricity current density (at output voltage of 7 V) is about
1.55x10-5(A/cm2) at the
standard ambient temperature of 298 K (25 C).
[0142] When the isothermal electricity is delivered through outlet
terminals 1406 and 1477
across three pairs of emitters and collectors, according to Eq. 18, the steady-
state operating
output voltage typically can be as high as about 10.5 V. However, the total
saturation isothermal
electricity current density (at output voltage of 10.5 V) remains to be about
1.55x10-5(A/cm2) at
the standard ambient temperature of 298 K (25 C) in this example.
[0143] More importantly, when the isothermal electricity is delivered
through the outlet
terminals1476 and 1477, the activity of the first emitter (1401 with Ag-O-Cs
film 1403) and the
first collector (Mo film/plate 1409) can be used to generate a V(c) of about
3.5 V to serves as a
bias voltage for the second emitter (Ag-O-Cs film 1423) on the surface of the
second conductor
plate 1402. In this way, the second emitter (Ag-O-Cs film 1423) will more
readily emit thermal
electrons towards the second collector (Mo film/plate 1429) of the third
conductor plate 1421.
Subsequently, the enhanced generation of V(c) at the third collector 1429 of
the third conductor
plate 1421 can serve as a bias voltage for the third emitter to more readily
emit thermal electrons
towards the terminal collector 1439 at the fourth conductor plate 1432.
Therefore, use of this
special feature can help better extract environmental heat energy especially
when the operating
environmental temperature is relatively low or when the work function of
certain emitters alone
may not be entirely low enough to function effectively. When the isothermal
electricity is
delivered through the outlet termina1s1476 and 1477, the steady-state
operating output voltage
can typically be about 7 V according to Eq. 18. The total saturation
isothermal electricity current
density (at output voltage of 7 V) remains to be about 1.55x10-5(A/cm2) at the
standard ambient
temperature of 298 K (25 C) in this example.
[0144] According to one of the various embodiments, the system capacitance
for a pair of
parallel emitter and collector plates is inversely dependent on their
separation distance (d) . It is a
preferred practice to increase the capacitance across each pair of emitter and
collector by
properly narrowing the space separation distance (d) between the emitter
surface and the
collector surface to a selected space gap size in a range from as big as 100
mm to as small as in a
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micrometer and/or sub-micrometer scale based on specific application and
operation conditions.
In this way, the need of using external capacitors may be eliminated.
Furthermore, use of a
narrow (micrometer and/or sub-micrometer) space gap between the emitter and
the collector
may also help to limit the formation of the static electron space-charge
clouds in the inter
electrode space for better system performance. Fig. 22 presents an example of
an integrated
isothermal electricity generator system 1500 that has a narrow inter electrode
space gap size
(separation distance d) for each of the three pairs of emitters and collectors
installed in a vacuum
tube chamber set up vertically. The system 1500 (Fig. 22) comprises the
following components
installed in a vacuum tube chamber from its top to bottom: a LWF (low work
function) film
1503 coated on the first electric conductor plate 1501 bottom surface to serve
as the first emitter,
a first narrow space 1504 allowing thermally emitted electrons 1505 to flow
through ballistically
between the first pair of emitter and collector, a HWF (high work function)
film 1509 coated on
the second electric conductor 1502 top surface to serve as the first
collector, a LWF film 1523
coated on the second electric conductor 1502 bottom surface to serve as the
second emitter, a
second narrow space 1524 allowing thermally emitted electrons 1525 to flow
through
ballistically between the second pair of emitter and collector, a HWF (high
work function) film
1529 coated on the third electric conductor 1521 top surface to sever as the
second collector, a
LWF film 1533 coated on the third electric conductor 1521 bottom surface to
serve as the third
emitter, a third narrow space 1534 allowing thermally emitted electrons 1535
to flow through
ballistically between the third pair of emitter and collector, a HWF (high
work function) film
1539 coated on the fourth electric conductor 1532 top surface to serve as the
terminal (third)
collector, a first electricity outlet 1506 (+) and a Earth ground 1510 that
are connected with the
first electric conductor plate 1501, and the second electric outlet 1537 (¨)
that is connected with
the fourth electric conductor 1532.
[0145] The integrated isothermal electricity generator system 1500 (Fig. 22)
is similar to the
system 1400C (Fig. 21c) except that only the first electric conductor
plate1501 and the terminal
conductor plate 1532 are wired to provide electricity outlets 1506 and 1507.
Therefore, in this
example, each of the second and third electric conductor plates in between the
first electric
conductor plate1501 and the terminal (fourth) conductor plate 1532 is designed
to
simultaneously serve as a collector on its top surface and an emitter at its
bottom surface. For
example, the conductor plate 1502 has a collector (HWF film 1509) on the top
surface facing up
to receive thermally emitted electrons 1505 from the first emitter (LWF film
1503) located
above the narrow space 1504 and an emitter (LWF film 1523) on the bottom side
to emit
thermal electrons 1525 downwards. Meanwhile, the conductor plate 1521 has a
HWF film 1529
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on its top surface facing up to receive thermally emitted electrons 1525 from
the second emitter
(LWF film 1523) located above the narrow space 1524 and a LWF film 1533 on its
bottom to
emit thermal electrons 1535 downwards to the terminal collector (HWF 1539) on
the terminal
conductor 1532. When the isothermal electricity is delivered through outlet
terminals 1506 and
1537 across three pairs of emitters and collectors, the maximum total steady-
state operating
output voltage typically can be about 9-12 V in this example.
[0146] According to one of the various embodiments, it is a preferred
practice to use an
asymmetric function-gated thermal electron power generator system in an
orientation with its
emitter facing down and its collector is placed at the lower position facing
up so that it can
utilize gravity to better collect the thermally emitted electrons from the
emitter placed at a higher
position as illustrated in Fig. 22. In this way, the system can utilize the
gravity to help pull the
emitted electrons from an emitter above down to the collector below. Although
the effect of the
gravitational pull may be relatively small, it can help to ensure some of the
emitted electrons
with nearly zero kinetic energy to travel down to the collector. After any of
the emitted electrons
enter the collector, their contribution to the isothermal electricity is
equally good in accordance
with one of the various embodiment of the present invention.
[0147] For examples, some of the emitted election may have quite limited
kinetic energy that
may not be sufficient to overcome the repulsion force of the collector
electrode's surface
electrons to immediately enter the collection electrode. The use of
gravitational pull provides
two effects that benefit the collection of the electrons from the emission
electrode. First, it can,
in some extent, help accelerate the electrons from the emitter more quickly
move down into the
collector. The second effect is to help localize some of these emitted
electrons at (and/or near)
the interface between the collector surface and the vacuum space by the use of
gravitational
force in this manner. Similarly as demonstrated previously with localized
protons, use of
localized electron population density may enhance the utilization of
environmental heat to
benefit the thermal electron power generation. For instance, since free
electrons including these
at the interface between the collector surface and the vacuum space can gain
additional kinetic
energy by absorbing infrared radiation from the environment, an enhanced
concentration of
localized electrons at the interface between the vacuum space and the
collection electrode
surface enhances the probability for localized electrons to utilize their
thermal motion energy to
finally enter the collector electrode. After an electron enters into the
collector electrode that
typically has a relatively higher work function, its contribution to the
thermal electron power
production is essentially certain regardless of its initial kinetic energy
before or after the entry.
[0148] According to one of the various embodiments, this special energy
technology process
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for generating useful Gibbs free energy from utilization of electron thermal
motion energy
associated with localized electrons has a special feature that its local
electron motive force (emf)
generated from its special utilization of environmental heat energy may be
calculated according
to the following equation:
2.3 RT
Local emf = ___________ 1og10(1 + [eLl/[ei]) [22]
Where R is the gas constant, T is the absolute temperature, F is Faraday's
constant, [ell is the
concentration of localized electrons at the interface between the collector
surface and the
vacuum space, and [ei] is the electron concentration in the bulk vacuum space.
[0149] With this Eq. 22, it is now, for the first time, understood that
this local emf is a
logarithmic function of the ratio of localized electron concentration [ell at
the interface to the
delocalized electron concentration [ei] in the bulk vacuum space. Proper
application of this
local emf may facilitate the entry of thermal elections gap space - collector
surface interface into
the collector in accordance with one of the various embodiments. For example,
the use of
positive-charged molecular functional group-modified collector surface and/or
the use of
gravitational force may bring the emitted electrons to the gap space-collector
surface interface
forming local emf there that may help overcome the collector surface-dipole
barrier to facilitate
the entry of thermal electrons into the collector for enhanced isothermal
electricity production.
[0150] According to one of the various embodiments, the effect of the
isothermal electricity
production is additive. Depending on a given specific application and its
associated operating
conditions such as temperature conditions, and the properties of the barrier
space such as its
thickness and composition, the emitter and collector electrodes and other
physical chemistry
properties, the number of emitter-collector pairs that may be used per
integrated system as
shown in Fig. 22 for the purpose of isothermally extracting environmental heat
energy to
generate electricity may be selected from the group consisting of 1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7, 8, 8, 9, 10,
20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 200, 300, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10,000,
100,000, 1,000,000,
more and/or within a range bounded by any two of these values.
[0151] Figure 23 presents another example of an integrated isothermal
electricity generator
system 1600 that has three pairs of emitters and collectors installed in a
vacuum tube chamber
set up vertically to utilize the gravity to help pull the emitted electrons
from an emitter down to a
collector. The system 1600 (Fig. 23) comprises the following components
installed in a vacuum
tube container from its top to bottom: a LWF (low work function) film 1603
coated onto the
vacuum tube wall 1650 inner surface at the dome-shaped top end to serve as a
first emitter that
has an electricity outlet 1606 (+) wired with a capacitor 1611 that is
connected with an Earth
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ground 1610, a first vacuum space 1604 allowing thermally emitted electrons
1605 to flow
through ballistically, a HWF (high work function) film 1609 to serve as a
first collector on the
top surface of electric conductor 1602, a LWF film 1623 as the second emitter
at the bottom
surface of electric conductor 1602, a second vacuum space 1624 allowing
thermally emitted
electrons 1625 to flow through ballistically, a HWF (high work function) film
1629 as the
second collector on electric conductor 1621 top surface, a LWF film 1633 as
the third emitter at
electric conductor 1621 bottom surface, a third vacuum space 1634 allowing
thermally emitted
electrons 1635 to flow through ballistically, and a HWF (high work function)
film 1639 coated
on the inner surface of the inversed-dome-shaped bottom end of the vacuum tube
to serve as the
terminal collector connected with an electricity outlet 1637 (¨). When the
isothermal electricity
is delivered through outlet terminals 1606 and 1637 across three pairs of
emitters and collectors,
the maximum total steady-state operating output voltage typically can be about
9-12 V in this
example.
[0152] The integrated isothermal electricity generator system 1600 (Fig. 23)
is similar to the
system 1500 (Fig. 22) except the following special features: 1) The system
1600 employs the
inner surface of dome-shaped top end of the vacuum tube chamber as a physical
support to
construct the first emitter by coating an LWF (low work function) film 1603;
2) It utilizes the
inner surface of the inversed-dome-shaped bottom end of the vacuum tube
chamber to construct
the terminal collector by coating a HWF (high work function) film 1639; and 3)
the first emitter
has an electricity outlet 1606 (+) wired with a capacitor 1611 that is
connected with an Earth
ground 1610 while the terminal collector connected with an electricity outlet
1637 (¨). These
features make the integrated isothermal electricity generator system 1600 much
more compact
than the system 1500. The optional use of capacitor 1611 between the
electricity outlet 1606 (+)
and the Earth ground 1610 also provides an additional way to reduce and/or
modulate the
possible voltage at the emitter for better system performance.
[0153] According to one of the various embodiments, during the isothermal
electricity
generation, an effective emitter such as those in the systems 1300, 1400, 1500
and 1600 absorbs
environmental heat from the outside environment and utilizes the environmental
heat energy to
emit electrons as shown in Figs. 20-22. It is important to provide effective
heat conduction
from the environment to the emitters. The system 1500 (Fig. 22) provide an
example where the
environmental heat energy primarily flow through the tube wall-electric
conductor plate joints to
the emitters on the electric conductor plate surfaces. Therefore, it is a
preferred practice to
employ heat-conductive materials in making the tube wall and more importantly
the tube wall-
electric conductor plate joints to ensure effective conduction of latent heat
from the environment
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to the emitters.
[0154] The integrated isothermal electricity generator system 1600 (Fig.
23) provide an
example of an emitter constructed on the inner surface of dome-shaped top end
of the vacuum
tube chamber by coating an LWF (low work function) film 1603. Such a close
physical contact
between the vacuum tube dome-shaped top wall inner surface and the emitter can
favorably
facilitate the heat transfer from the tube environment to the emitter.
[0155] According to one of the various embodiments, the collector surface is
engineered by
adding certain positively charged molecular structure such as protonated amine
groups on the
surface. Protonated (poly)aniline which has protonated amine groups (positive
charges) on its
surface made by the protonation process using the electrostatically localized
excess protons as
disclosed in W02017/007762 Al and US 2017/0009357 Al is selected for use as a
collector
electrode in this embodiment.
[0156] According to one of the various embodiments, the positively charged
groups such as
the protonated amine groups on the collector electrode surface provide a
number of beneficial
effects on facilitating the collection of electrons emitted from the emitter
electrode: 1) Attracting
the electrons emitted from the emitter electrode, which results in an enhanced
concentration of
localized electron cloud [eL-] at the vicinity of the collector electrode
surface and thus enable
better utilization of additional environmental heat energy according to Eq. 22
to facilitate the
entry of the vacuum electrons into the collector electrode for power
generation; 2) Neutralizing
negative surface dipole (if any) for the collector electrode surface; and 3)
Counter balancing the
negative electric surface potential resulted from the accumulation of the
collected electrons in
the collector electrode for more power storage.
[0157] Figure 24a presents an example of an isothermal electricity generator
system 1700A
that has a low work function Ag-O-Cs (0.6 eV) emitter and a high work function
protonated
polyaniline (4.42 eV) collector installed in a chamber-like vacuum tube with a
dome-shaped top
end and an inversed-dome-shaped bottom end. The system 1700A (Fig. 24a)
comprises the
following components installed in the chamber-like vacuum tube from its top to
bottom: a Ag-
0-Cs film (emitter) 1703 coated on the dome-shaped top inner surface of the
chamber-like
vacuum tube wall 1750 to serve as an emitter; a protonated polyaniline film
1739 coated on the
inversed-dome-shaped bottom inner surface of the chamber-like vacuum tube to
serve as the
collector; a vacuum space 1704 allowing thermally emitted electrons 1705 to
ballistically fly
through between the emitter 1703 and the collector 1739; an electricity outlet
1706 (+)
connected with the emitter 1703; and an electricity outlet 1737 (-) connected
with the collector
1739. When the isothermal electricity is delivered through outlet terminals
1706 and 1737, the
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steady-state operating output voltage typically can be about 3.5 V. The
saturation isothermal
electricity current density (at output voltage of 3.5 V) is 7.59x104 A/cm2 at
the standard ambient
temperature of 298 K (25 C) in this example.
[0158] Figure 24b presents an example of an integrated isothermal electricity
generator system
1700B that has two pair of emitters and collectors working in series employing
low work
function of Ag-O-Cs (0.6 eV) and high work function of protonated polyaniline
(4.42 eV). The
system 1700B (Fig. 24b) comprises the following components installed in a
vacuum tube
chamber from its top to bottom: a Ag-O-Cs film (emitter) 1703 coated onto the
inner surface of
dome-shaped top end of the vacuum tube wall 1750 to serve as first emitter
that has an
electricity outlet 1706 (+), a vacuum space 1704 allowing thermally emitted
electrons 1705 to
flow through ballistically, a protonated polyaniline film 1709 to serve as the
first collector on the
top surface of the middle electric conductor 1702, a Ag-O-Cs film 1723 as the
second emitter at
the bottom surface of the middle electric conductor 1702, a second vacuum
space 1734 allowing
thermally emitted electrons 1735 to flow through ballistically, a protonated
polyaniline film
1739 coated on the inner surface of the inversed-dome-shaped bottom end of the
vacuum tube to
serve as the terminal collector connected with an electricity outlet 1737 (¨).
When the
isothermal electricity is delivered through outlet terminals 1706 and 1737,
the steady-state
operating output voltage typically can be about 7 V according to Eq. 18. The
saturation
isothermal electricity current density (at output voltage of 7 V) is about
7.59x104 A/cm2 at the
standard ambient temperature of 298K (25 C) in this example.
[0159] Figure 24c presents an example of an integrated isothermal electricity
generator system
1700C that has three pairs of low work function of Ag-O-Cs (0.6 eV) emitters
and high work
function protonated polyaniline (4.42 eV) collectors operating in series. The
system 1700C (Fig.
25c) comprises the following components installed in a vacuum tube chamber
from its top to
bottom: a Ag-O-Cs film (emitter) 1703 coated onto the dome-shaped top end
inner surface of the
vacuum tube wall 1750 to serve as the first emitter; a protonated polyaniline
film 1709
(collector) coated on the first middle electric conductor 1702 top surface to
serve as the first
collector; the first vacuum space 1704 allowing thermally emitted electrons
1705 to fly through
ballistically across the first emitter and the first collector; a Ag-O-Cs film
1723 at the first
middle electric conductor 1702 bottom surface to serve as the second emitter;
a protonated
polyaniline film 1729 coated on the second middle electric conductor 1721 top
surface to serve
as the second collector; the second vacuum space 1724 allowing thermally
emitted electrons
1725 to fly through ballistically between the second emitter and the second
collector; a Ag-O-Cs
film 1733 coated on the second middle electric conductor 1721 bottom surface
to serve as the
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third emitter, a protonated polyaniline film 1739 coated on the inversed-dome-
shaped bottom
end inner surface of the vacuum tube to serve as the third (terminal)
collector; the third vacuum
space 1734 allowing thermally emitted electrons 1735 to fly through
ballistically between the
third emitter and the terminal collector; the first electricity outlet 1706
(+) connected with the
first emitter 1703; and the second electricity outlet 1737 (¨) connected with
the third (terminal)
collector. When the isothermal electricity is delivered through outlet
terminals 1706 and 1737
across three pairs of emitters and collectors, the maximum total steady-state
operating output
voltage typically can be about 10.5 V according to Eq. 18. The saturation
isothermal electricity
current density (at output voltage of 10.5 V) is about 7.59x104 A/cm2 at the
standard ambient
temperature of 298 K (25 C) in this example.
[0160] According to one of the various embodiments, an isothermal electrons-
based
environmental heat energy utilization system comprises low work function of Ag-
O-Cs and high
work function of Cu metal. Figure 25a presents another example of an
isothermal electricity
generator system 1800A that has a low work function (0.7 eV) Ag-O-Cs emitter
and a high work
function (4.56 eV) Cu metal collector installed in a chamber-like vacuum tube.
The system
1800A (Fig. 25a) comprises the following components installed in the chamber-
like vacuum
tube from its top to bottom: a Ag-O-Cs film (emitter) 1803 coated on the dome-
shaped top end
inner surface of the chamber-like vacuum tube wall 1850 to serve as the
emitter; a vacuum space
1804 allowing thermally emitted electrons 1805 to flow through ballistically
between the emitter
1803 and collector 1839; a Cu film/plate 1839 coated on the inversed-dome-
shaped bottom end
inner surface of the chamber-like vacuum tube to serve as the collector 1839;
the first electricity
outlet 1806 (+) connected with the emitter 1803; and the second electricity
outlet 1837 (¨)
connected with the collector 1839. When the isothermal electricity is
delivered through outlet
terminals 1806 and 1837 across three pairs of emitters and collectors, the
maximum total steady-
state operating output voltage typically can be about 3.5 V. The saturation
isothermal electricity
current density (at output voltage of 3.5 V) is about 1.55x10-5 (A/cm2) at the
standard ambient
temperature of 298 K (25 C) in this example.
[0161] Figure 25b presents another example of an integrated isothermal
electricity generator
system 1800B that has two pairs of low work function Ag-O-Cs (0.7 eV) emitters
and high work
function Cu metal (4.56 eV) collectors operating in series. The system 1800B
(Fig. 25b)
comprises the following components installed in a vacuum tube chamber from its
top to bottom:
an Ag-O-Cs film (emitter) 1803 coated on the dome-shaped top end inner surface
of the vacuum
tube chamber wall 1850 to serve as the first emitter; a first vacuum space
1804 allowing
thermally emitted electrons 1805 to flow through ballistically across the
first pair of emitter and
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collector; a Cu film/plate 1809 coated on the middle electric conductor 1802
top surface to serve
as the first collector; an Ag-O-Cs film 1823 coated on the middle electric
conductor 1802
bottom surface to serve as the second emitter; a second vacuum space 1834
allowing thermally
emitted electrons 1835 to flow through ballistically across the second pair of
emitter 1823 and
collector 1839; a Cu film/plate 1839 coated on the inversed-dome-shaped bottom
end inner
surface of the vacuum tube chamber to serve as the terminal collector; a first
electricity outlet
1806 (+) connected with the first emitter 1803; and a second electricity
outlet 1837 (¨)
connected with the terminal collector 1839.
[0162] When
the isothermal electricity is delivered through outlet terminals 1806 and 1837
across two pairs of emitters and collectors, the maximum total steady-state
operating output
voltage of the system 1800B (Fig. 25b) typically can be about 7 V. The total
saturation
isothermal electricity current density (at output voltage of 7 V) is about
1.55x10-5(A/cm2) at the
standard ambient temperature of 298 K (25 C) in this example.
[0163] Figure 25c presents another example of an integrated isothermal
electricity generator
system 1800C that has three pairs of emitters and collectors operating in
series employing low
work function of Ag-O-Cs (0.7 eV) and high work function of Cu metal (4.56
eV). The system
1800C (Fig. 25c) comprises the following components installed in a vacuum tube
from its top to
bottom: an Ag-O-Cs film (emitter) 1803 coated onto the inner surface of dome-
shaped top end
of the vacuum tube wall 1850 to serve as the first emitter that has an
electricity outlet 1806 (+), a
first vacuum space 1804 allowing thermally emitted electrons 1805 to flow
through ballistically,
a Cu film/plate 1809 to serve as the first collector on the top surface of
electric conductor 1802,
an Ag-O-Cs film 1823 as the second emitter at the bottom surface of electric
conductor 1802, a
second vacuum space 1824 allowing thermally emitted electrons 1825 to flow
through
ballistically, a Cu film/plate 1829 as the second collector on electric
conductor 1821 top surface,
an Ag-O-Cs film 1833 as the third emitter at electric conductor 1821 bottom
surface, a third
vacuum space 1834 allowing thermally emitted electrons 1835 to flow through
ballistically, and
a Cu film/plate 1839 coated on the inner surface of the inversed-dome-shaped
bottom end of the
vacuum tube to serve as the terminal collector connected with an electricity
outlet 1837 (¨).
When the isothermal electricity is delivered through outlet terminals 1806 and
1837 across three
pairs of emitters and collectors, the maximum total steady-state operating
output voltage
typically is about 10.5 V. The total saturation isothermal electricity current
density (at output
voltage of 10.5 V) is about 1.55x10-5 (A/cm2) at the standard ambient
temperature of 298 K (25
C) in this example.
[0164]
According to one of the various embodiments, an isothermal electrons-based
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environmental heat energy utilization system comprises low work function of Ag-
O-Cs and high
work function of Au metal. Figure 26 presents another example of an integrated
isothermal
electricity generator system 1900 that employs three pairs of exceptionally
low work function
Ag-O-Cs (0.5 eV) emitters and high work function Au metal (5.10 eV) collectors
working in
series. The system 1900 (Fig. 26) comprises the following components installed
in a vacuum
tube chamber from its top to bottom: an Ag-O-Cs film (emitter) 1903 coated on
the dome-
shaped top end inner surface of the vacuum tube chamber wall 1950 to serve as
the first emitter
that has an electricity outlet 1906 (+); a first vacuum space 1904 allowing
thermally emitted
electrons 1905 to flow through ballistically across the first pair of emitter
1903 and collector
1909; an Au film 1909 coated on the first middle electric conductor 1902 top
surface to serve as
the first collector; an Ag-O-Cs film 1923 coated on the first middle electric
conductor 1902
bottom surface to serve as the second emitter; a second vacuum space 1924
allowing thermally
emitted electrons 1925 to flow through ballistically across the second pair of
emitter 1923 and
collector 1929; an Au film 1929 coated on the second middle electric conductor
1921 top
surface to serve as the second collector; a Ag-O-Cs film 1933 coated on the
second middle
electric conductor 1921 bottom surface to serve as the third emitter; a third
vacuum space 1934
allowing thermally emitted electrons 1935 to flow through ballistically across
the third pair of
emitter 1933 and collector 1939; and an Au film 1939 coated on the inversed-
dome-shaped
bottom end inner surface of the vacuum tube chamber to serve as the terminal
collector
connected with an electricity outlet 1937 (¨). When the isothermal electricity
is delivered
through outlet terminals 1906 and 1937 across three pairs of emitters and
collectors, the
maximum total steady-state operating output voltage typically can be about 12
V. The total
saturation isothermal electricity current density (at output voltage of 12 V)
is about 3.73 x102
A/cm2 at the standard ambient temperature of 298K (25 C) in this example.
[0165] According to one of the various embodiments, an isothermal electrons-
based
environmental heat energy utilization system comprises low work function of
doped-graphene
and high work function of graphite. Figure 27 presents another example of an
integrated
isothermal electricity generator system 2000 that employs low work function of
doped-graphene
(1.01eV) and high work function of graphite (4.60 eV). The system 2000 (Fig.
27) comprises the
following components installed in a vacuum tube from its top to bottom: a
doped-graphene film
(emitter) 2003 coated onto the inner surface of dome-shaped top end of the
vacuum tube wall
2050 to serve as the first emitter that has an electricity outlet 2006 (+), a
first vacuum space
2004 allowing thermally emitted electrons 2005 to flow through ballistically,
a graphite film
2009 to serve as a collector on the top surface of the first middle electric
conductor 2002, a
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doped-graphene film 2023 as the second emitter at the bottom surface of the
first middle electric
conductor 2002, a second vacuum space 2024 allowing thermally emitted
electrons 2025 to flow
through ballistically, a graphite film 2029 as the second collector on the
second middle electric
conductor 2021 top surface, a doped-graphene film 2033 as the third emitter at
the second
middle electric conductor 2021 bottom surface, a third vacuum space 2034
allowing thermally
emitted electrons 2035 to flow through ballistically, and a graphite film 2039
coated on the inner
surface of the inversed-dome-shaped bottom end of the vacuum tube to serve as
the terminal
collector connected with an electricity outlet 2037 (¨). When the isothermal
electricity is
delivered through outlet terminals 2006 and 2037 across three pairs of
emitters and collectors,
the maximum total steady-state operating output voltage typically can be about
9 V. The total
ideal saturation isothermal electricity current density (at output voltage of
9 V) at the following
operating temperature is: 1.30x10' A/cm2
at 298 K (25 C), 5.14x107 A/cm2 at 373 K (100
C), 5.94x104 A/cm2 at 473 K(200 C), 6.31x102 Ai/CM2 at 573 K (300 C), 1.76
A/cm2 at 673
K (400 C), 1.76 A/cm2 at 673 K (400 C), 17.3 A/cm2 at 763 K (490 C), 61.1
A/cm2 at 823 K
(500 C), and 154 A/cm2 at 873 K (600 C) in this example.
[0166] According to one of the various embodiments, an isothermal electrons-
based
environmental heat energy utilization system comprises low work function of
doped-graphene
and high work function of graphene. Figure 28 presents another example of an
integrated
isothermal electricity generator system 2100 that employs multiple pairs of
low work function
doped-graphene (1.01eV) emitters and high work function graphene (4.60 eV)
collectors. The
system 2100 (Fig. 28) comprises the following components installed in a vacuum
tube chamber
from its top to bottom: a doped-graphene film (emitter) 2103 coated on the
dome-shaped top end
inner surface of the vacuum tube chamber wall 2150 to serve as first emitter
that has an
electricity outlet 2106 (+), a first vacuum space 2104 allowing thermally
emitted electrons 2105
to flow through ballistically across the first pair of emitter 2103 and
collector 2109, a graphene
film 2109 on the first middle electric conductor 2102 top surface to serve as
the first collector, a
doped-graphene film 2123 coated on the first middle electric conductor 2102
bottom surface to
serve as the second emitter, a second vacuum space 2124 allowing thermally
emitted electrons
2125 to flow through ballistically across the second pair of emitter 2123 and
collector 2129, a
graphene film 2129 coated on the second middle electric conductor 2121 top
surface to serve as
the second collector, a doped-graphene film 2133 coated on the second middle
electric
conductor 2121 bottom surface as the third emitter, a third vacuum space 2134
allowing
thermally emitted electrons 2135 to flow through ballistically across the
third pair of emitter
2133 and collector 2139, and a graphene film 2139 coated on the inversed-dome-
shaped bottom
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end the inner surface of the vacuum tube chamber to serve as the terminal
collector connected
with an electricity outlet 2137 (¨). When the isothermal electricity is
delivered through outlet
terminals 2106 and 2137 across three pairs of emitters and collectors, the
maximum total steady-
state operating output voltage typically can be about 9 V in this example. The
total ideal
saturation isothermal electricity current density (at output voltage of 9 V)
at the following
operating temperature is: 1.30x10' A/cm2
at 298 K (25 C), 5.14x107 A/cm2 at 373 K (100
C), 5.94x104 Ai/CM2 at 473 K(200 C), 6.31x102 Ai/CM2 at 573 K (300 C), 1.76
A/cm2 at 673
K (400 C), 1.76 A/cm2 at 673 K (400 C), 17.3 A/cm2 at 763 K (490 C), 61.1
A/cm2 at 823 K
(500 C), 154 A/cm2 at 873 K (600 C), 354 A/cm2 at 923 K (650 C), and 750
A/cm2 at 973 K
(700 C) in this example.
[0167] According to one of the various embodiments, any of the isothermal
electricity
generator systems disclosed here may be modified for various applications. For
examples, a
typical smart mobile phone device such as iPhone 6 consumes about 10.5 Watt-
hours per day
(24 hours). Use of certain isothermal electricity generator systems disclosed
in this invention
may enable to produce a new generation of smart mobile electronic devices that
can utilize the
latent (existing hidden) heat energy from the ambient temperature environment
to power the
devices without requiring the conventional electrical power sources. For
instance, use of an
asymmetric function-gated isothermal electricity generator system disclosed
here with a chip
size of about 40 cm2 that has a 3 V isothermal electricity output of 200 mA
may be sufficient to
continuously power a smart mobile phone device.
[0168] According to one of the various embodiments, a highly optimized
isothermal electricity
generator system such as the integrated isothermal electricity generator
system 1900 that
employs an exceptionally low work function of Ag-O-Cs (0.5 eV) and a high work
function of
Au metal (5.10 eV) illustrated in Fig. 26 can be powerful enough to extract
environmental heat
energy from an environment as cold as ¨ 20 C (T = 253 K). Consequently, it is
possible to use
this type of highly optimized isothermal electricity generator system to
provide novel cooling for
a new type of freezers and/or refrigerators while generating isothermal
electricity by
isothermally extracting environmental heat energy from inside the cold icebox
(the heat source).
Optimization and utilization of exceptionally low work function (0.5 eV)
materials such as Ag-
0-Cs film as an emitter are critically important to this application in
extracting environmental
heat energy from the interior surface of the cold box. The collector work
function material for
this application does not have to be gold (Au) and other work function
materials such as Cu
metal film, graphene and/or graphite conductors with work function about 4.6
eV can also be
used.
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[0169] As presented in Fig. 19b, the isothermal electricity current density
(A/cm2) curves as a
function of output voltage V(c) for a pair of emitter work function of 0.50 eV
and collector work
function of 4.60 eV showed that this type of isothermal electricity generator
system can work
even at a refrigerating and/or freezing temperature of 253, 263, 273, and 277
K. The saturation
level of the steady-state ideal isothermal electricity current density at an
output voltage of 3.50
V is: 8.42x10-4 A/CM2 at 253 K (-20 C), 2.18x103 Ai/CM2 at 263 K (-10 C),
5.26x103 A/C11112
at 273 K (0 C), and 7.36x103 Ai/CM2 at 277 K (4 C). Consequently, the
cooling power of the
isothermal electricity generator defined as Watt (W) per square centimeters of
the cross-section
area of the emitter-collector interelectrode space in this example is
estimated to be: 2.88x10-3
W/cm2 at 253 K (-20 C), 7.63x103 W/cm2 at 263 K (-10 C), 1.84x102 W/cm2 at
273 K (0
C), and 2.58x10-2 W/cm2 at 277 K (4 C). A typical family-size
freezer/refrigerator has a
height of 174 cm, a depth of 80 cm and a width of 91 cm. It has a total
outside surface area of
74,068 cm2. Even if only 50% of the surface area is used by an asymmetric
function-gated
isothermal electricity generator with a cooling power density of 2.88x103
W/cm2 at 253 K (-20
C), it maximally can deliver an electricity power of 106 W plus a novel
cooling power of 106
W, which is plenty to power the entire family-size freezer/refrigerator that
typically requires an
electricity power of only 72.5 W to run in this example.
[0170] According to one of the various embodiments, an asymmetric function-
gated optimized
isothermal electricity generator system that has a pair of an exceptionally
low work function Ag-
0-Cs (0.5 eV) emitter and a high work function graphene (4.60 eV) collector is
employed to
provide the novel cooling for a new type of freezer/refrigerator without
requiring any of the
conventional refrigeration mechanisms of compressor, condenser, evaporator
and/or radiator by
isothermally extracting environmental heat energy from inside the
freezer/refrigerator while
generating isothermal electricity.
[0171] Furthermore, use of certain isothermal electricity generator systems
according to one of
the various embodiments can produce electricity by utilizing the waste heat
from wide varieties
of waste heat sources including (but not limited to) the waste heat from
electrical devices such
as computers, motor vehicles engines, air-conditioner heat exchange systems,
combustion-based
power plants, combustion systems, heat-based distillation systems, nuclear
power plants,
geothermal heat sources, solar heat, and waste heat from photovoltaic panels.
[0172] Figures 29-31 presents additional prototypes for an isothermal
electricity generator
system that comprises a pair of a low work function Ag-O-Cs emitter plate
(size: 40 mm x 46
mm) and a high work function Cu collector plate (size: 40 mm x 46 mm)
installed in a sealed
glass bottle (Zhongquo Mingbei, Nuoyan Koubei, made in China) with a screw cap
(Fig. 31a) or
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with a non-screw cap (Fig. 31b). In the electrobottle prototype design, the
air inside each bottle
can be readily removed though a vacuum pump to create a vacuum condition.
These prototype
electrobottles were made through a private effort in collaboration with a
private lighting-device
manufacturing company in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China.
[0173] Fig. 29a presents photographs for a pair of parallel aluminum plate-
supported silver
(Ag) and copper (Cu) electrode plates (size: 40 mm x 46 mm) held together with
electric-
insulating plastic spacers (washers), screws and nuts at the four corners for
each of the two
electrode plates to make a pair of Ag-O-Cs type emitter (Cs0Ag) and Cu
collector with or
without oxygen plasma treatment. Fig. 29b presents photographs for a pair of
parallel aluminum
plate-supported silver (Ag) and copper (Cu) collector electrode plates (size:
40 mm x 46 mm)
held together with electric-insulating plastic spacers (washers), heat-shrink
plastic tube-insulated
metal screws and nuts at the corners of the electrode plates. The silver (Ag)
plate and copper
(Cu) collector plate were connected by soldering with a red insulator coated
copper wire and a
blue insulator coated copper wire, respectively. The silver (Ag) electrode
plate surface was
coated with a thin molecular layer of cesium oxide (Cs20) through painting
with a dilute cesium
oxide solution followed by drying to form a type of Ag-O-Cs emitter with or
without oxygen
plasma treatment. This shows how a pair of prototype Ag-O-Cs emitter (Cs0Ag)
and Cu
collector can be assembled.
[0174] Fig. 30 presents a photograph of the parts for a prototype Cs0Ag-Cu
electrobottle that
comprise a pair of parallel aluminum plate-supported Cs0Ag (silver (Ag),
coated with Cs20)
and copper (Cu) collector plates installed with the red and blue insulator
coated copper wires
passing through a screw bottle cap. Two blue plastic air tubes were installed
through two
additional holes in the screw bottle cap. Electric-insulating and air-tight
Kafuter 704 RTV
silicone gel (white) was used to seal the joints for the wires and tubes
passing through the bottle
cap. This shows how a prototype Cs0Ag-Cu electrobottle can be assembled.
[0175] Fig. 31a presents a photograph showing four prototype Cs0Ag-Cu
electrobottles that
were fabricated using crew bottle caps. Each electrobottle comprises a pair of
parallel aluminum
plate-supported silver Cs0Ag (a type of Ag-O-Cs emitter) and copper (Cu)
collector electrode
surfaces installed with red and blue insulator coated wires passing through a
screw bottle cap.
After installation and sealing with electric-insulating and air-tight Kafuter
704 RTV silicone gel
(white), air was removed from each of the electro-bottles using a vacuum pump
through the blue
plastic tubes with the bottle cap. Fig. 31b presents a photograph of 17
prototype Cs0Ag-Cu
electro-bottles that were made using non-screw bottle caps and sealed with
electric-insulating
and air-tight Kafuter 704 RTV silicone gel (white) material.
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[0176] The following methods and steps were employed in fabricating these
Cs0Ag-Cu
prototype electrobottles (Figs. 31a and 31b): a) 1.0-mm thick aluminum sheets
(size: 160 mm x
184 mm with a thickness of 1.0-mm) were used as the mechanical supporting
plate material; b) a
pre-manufactured copper (Cu) film (35-pm thick) was mechanically pressed with
a layer of 0.2-
mm thick sticky heat-conductive and electric insulating gel onto an aluminum
sheet (size: 160
mm x 184 mm with a thickness of 1.0-mm), forming a Cu film (35-pm
thick)¨insulating gel
(0.2-mm thick)¨aluminum sheet (1-mm thick) structure; c) a 10-pm thick silver
(Ag) film was
then electroplated onto the Cu film (35-pm thick)¨insulating gel (0.2-mm
thick)¨aluminum
sheet (1-mm thick) structure using a sliver electroplating solution containing
silver nitrate and
potassium cyanide (which is highly toxic and must be carefully handled with
protective
equipment by fully trained professionals only), producing a 160 mm x 184 mm Ag
film (10-pm
thick)¨Cu film (35-pm thick)¨insulating gel (0.2-mm thick)¨aluminum sheet (1-
mm thick)
structure; d) a 160 mm x 184 mm Cu film¨insulating gel¨aluminum sheet was
mechanically cut
to produce smaller pieces with a size of 40 mm x 46 mm to serve as high work
function Cu
collector plates; e) similarly, a 160 mm x 184 mm Ag film (10-pm thick)¨Cu
film (35-pm
thick)¨insulating gel (0.2-mm thick)¨aluminum sheet (1-mm thick) structure was
mechanically
cut to produce smaller pieces with the size of 40 mm x 46 mm to serve as Ag
plates; e) the silver
(Ag) electrode plate surfaces were coated with a thin molecular layer of
cesium oxide (Cs20)
through painting with a dilute (10-mM) Cs20 solution followed by drying
(alternatively, Ag
plate surfaces are treated with oxygen plasma and coated with vaporized Cs
atoms) to produce a
type of low work function Ag-O-Cs emitter plates; 0 a small hole (diameter 3
mm) was made
near each of the four corners for each of the 40 mm x 46 mm electrode plates
using a mechanical
hole maker; g) each of the Ag-O-Cs emitter plates was connected by soldering
with a red
insulator coated copper wire (a single 16 gauge copper wire with red insulator
coat); h)
similarly, each of the Cu collector plates was connected by soldering with a
blue insulator
coated copper wire (a single 16 gauge copper wire with blue insulator coat);
i) as shown in Fig.
29b, each pair of a low work function Ag-O-Cs emitter plate (size: 40 mm x 46
mm) and a high
work function Cu collector plate (size: 40 mm x 46 mm) was assembled in
parallel with a
separation distance of 5 mm using a set of four heat-shrinking plastic
insulator tube-insulated
metal screws, four insulating plastic washers/spacers, and four nuts (or using
a set of electric-
insulating plastic spacers (washers), screws and nuts as shown in Fig. 29a) at
the four corners of
the two electrode plates; j) as shown in Fig. 30, a pair of 3-mm-diameter
holes was made in each
of the bottle caps (typically made of stainless steel and/or plastic material)
for the red and blue
wires to pass through; k) a pair of 8-mm-diameter holes was made in the bottle
cap for a pair of
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blue plastic (or stainless steel) tubes to pass through (to pull vacuum
later); 1) the assembled pair
of Ag-O-Cs emitter plate and Cu collector plate was then inserted into a glass
bottle with its
insulated red and blue wires passing through the 3-mm-diameter holes of the
bottle cap (Fig.
30); m) all the joints around the wires and the tubes in the bottle cap were
sealed with an air-
tight electric-insulating Kafuter 704 RTV silicone gel material (Figures 30
and 31); n) after
installation, air was removed from each of the electrobottles through the blue
plastic tubes at the
bottle cap using a vacuum pump and kept each electrobottle sealed under the
vacuum condition
by closing the rubber valves of the air tubes (Fig. 31); and o) quality
inspection: for example, the
insulation between the Ag film/Cu film and the supporting aluminum sheet by
the 0.2-mm thick
insulating gel and the insulation between the metal screws and the Ag film/Cu
film plates by the
heat-shrinking plastic insulator tubes for all metal screw bolts were
inspected with electric
insulation measurement for each pair of electrode plates.
[0177]
Therefore, although the metal screws/nuts were in contact with the supporting
aluminum sheet plates as shown in Fig. 29b, each of the Cs0Ag film emitter and
the Cu film
collector was still well insulated from both the metal screws and the
supporting aluminum sheet
plates. The insulator electric resistance as measured across a pair of Cs0Ag
film emitter
terminal wire (red) and Cu film collector terminal wire (blue) was over 50 MC/
for a typical
Cs0Ag-Cu electrobottle prototype in this example.
[0178] The
isothermal electricity generation activity in each prototype Cs0Ag-Cu
electrobottle was measured with a Keithley 6514 electrometer (Keithley
Instruments, Inc.,
Cleveland, Ohio, USA) as shown in Fig. 32. During the experimental
measurements, a prototype
electrobottle that comprises a pair of a low work function Ag-O-Cs emitter
plate (size: 40 mm x
46 mm) and a high work function Cu collector plate (size: 40 mm x 46 mm)
installed in a sealed
glass bottle was placed into a 33 x 30 x 42 cm Faraday box made of heavy duty
aluminum foil to
reduce the potential electric interference from the surroundings. As shown in
Fig. 32a, the
Keithley 6514 electrometer's red alligator clip was connected with the wire
(red) of the Ag-0-
Cs emitter plate while the electrometer's black alligator clip was connected
to the wire (black) of
the Cu collector plate. The metal Faraday box that was typically grounded by
connecting with
the Keithley 6514 electrometer's green alligator clip (ground wire) was closed
at all sides as
shown in Fig. 32b to shield the prototype electrobottle device to minimize any
potential electric
interference from the sounding environment during the measurements for
isothermal electricity
generation activity.
[0179] As shown in Fig. 32b, for example, the isothermal electricity
generation was measured
by a Keithley 6514 electrometer reading "20.9444 PA.CZ". This indicates that
the isothermal
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electric current from the prototype electrobottle device (Fig. 32a) was
approximately 20.94 pico
Amps (pA) as measured at a room temperature (21 C) using the well-established
Amps
measurement procedure with Keithley 6514 electrometer's zero check and zero
(baseline)
correction (CZ) functions.
[0180] A number of prototype Cs0Ag-Cu electrobottles were experimentally
tested for their
isothermal electricity production performance. Table 10 presents examples of
experimental
isothermal electricity production results from a prototype isothermal
electricity generator
(electrobottle sample "Cs0Ag-Cu 1") in comparison with a control electrobottle
sample "CK
Ag-Cu" as tested at 23 C with Keithley 6514 system electrometer. The control
electrobottle
"CK Ag-Cu" has the same structure as that of the electrobottle "Cs0Ag-Cu 1"
except that the
Ag plate surface of the control electrobottle "CK Ag-Cu" was not coated with
any cesium oxide
(Cs20). The Amps measurement procedure with Keithley 6514 electrometer's zero
check and
zero (baseline) correction (CZ) was used in testing 1) the electrobottle
"Cs0Ag-Cu 1", 2) the
Keithley 6514 system's Model 237-ALG-2 low noise cable with three alligator
clips (no
electrobottle device), and 3) the control electrobottle "CK Ag-Cu". Based on
the experimental
measurements with 12 readings from the Keithley 6514 system electrometer, the
isothermal
electric current from electrobottle "Cs0Ag-Cu 1" was measured to be 11.17
0.08 pico amps
(pA), which is well above the electrometer baseline signal of 0.071 0.17 pA
as measured with
Keithley 6514 system's Model 237-ALG-2 low noise cable with three alligator
clips (no
electrobottle device). The control electrobottle "CK Ag-Cu" gave an electric
current reading of
¨0.360 0.005 pA, which is quite different from that (11.17 0.08 pA) of
electrobottle
"Cs0Ag-Cu 1". Therefore, these experimental results quite clearly demonstrated
the isothermal
electricity production in the prototype electrobottle "Cs0Ag-Cu 1".
[0181] When the isothermal electricity from the prototype electrobottle "Cs0Ag-
Cu 1" was
measured in reverse polarity (Keithley 6514 system's Model 237-ALG-2 low noise
cable black
alligator connector to Cs0Ag plate (a type of Ag-O-Cs emitter) and red
alligator connector to
Cu plate), the isothermal electric current was measured to be ¨10.77 0.17
pA, which is quite
different from that (0.220 0.003 pA) of the control electrobottle "CK Ag-Cu"
when measured
also in its reverse polarity (see "rev, pA.CZ" in Table 10). Therefore, these
experimental results
also quite clearly demonstrated the isothermal electricity production activity
in the prototype
electrobottle "Cs0Ag-Cu 1" as expected.
[0182] Note, the isothermal electron flux (hõT) normal to the surfaces of
the emitter and
collector (also named as the isothermal electricity current density) can be
calculated as the ratio
of the isothermal electric current (11.17 0.08 pA) to the Cs0Ag plate surface
area (4.0 x 4.6 =
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18.4 cm2). As listed in Table 10, the electricity current density across the
Cs0Ag plate surface
area in electrobottle "Cs0Ag-Cu 1" was determined to be 0.607 pA/cm2 in its
normal polarity
and -0.586 pA/cm2 when measured with its reverse polarity. By taking their
absolute values, the
averaged electricity current density in electrobottle "Cs0Ag-Cu 1" was
calculated to be 0.596
pA/cm2. Based on this isothermal electron flux (hõT) of 0.596 pA/cm2 at 23 C,
the work
function of the Cs0Ag emitter plate surface in electrobottle "Cs0Ag-Cu 1" was
estimated to be
about 1.1 eV in this example.
Table 10 presents the experimental isothermal electricity production results
from a prototype
isothermal electricity generator (electrobottle "Cs0Ag-Cu 1") in comparison
with a control
electrobottle "CK Ag-Cu" as tested at 23 C with Keithley 6514 electrometer's
zero check and
zero (baseline) correction (CZ) functions.
Cs0Ag-Cu 1 Cs0Ag-Cu 1 Cable/ CK Ag-Cu CK Ag-Cu
alligator
clips
Measurements pA.CZ rev, pA.CZ pA.CZ pA.CZ rev, pA.CZ
Reading 1 11.11 -10.8 0.071 -0.364 0.222
Reading 2 11.26 -10.4 0.068 -0.365 0.224
Reading 3 11.05 -10.62 0.074 -0.365 0.221
Reading 4 11.21 -10.57 0.072 -0.366 0.217
Readings 11.14 -10.91 0.073 -0.362 0.213
Reading 6 11.08 -10.8 0.0725 -0.358 0.216
Reading 7 11.24 -10.83 0.07 -0.355 0.221
Reading 8 11.2 -10.97 0.069 -0.350 0.22
Reading 9 11.03 -10.76 0.0715 -0.354 0.224
Reading 10 11.24 -10.95 0.068 -0.361 0.221
Reading 11 11.21 -10.75 0.0718 -0.360 0.218
Reading 12 11.27 -10.93 0.0729 -0.362 0.223
Mean 11.17 -10.77 0.071 -0.360 0.220
STD 0.08 0.17 0.002 0.005 0.003
pA/cm2 0.607 -0.586 -0.019 0.012
[0183] Table 11 presents the experimental isothermal electricity production
results from
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another prototype isothermal electricity generator (electrobottle "(3) Cs0Ag-
Cu") measured as a
function of operating temperature. The standard methods of Amps and voltage
measurements
with Keithley 6514 electrometer's zero check and zero (baseline) correction
(CZ) were used in
testing this prototype "(3) Cs0Ag-Cu" electrobottle. Based on 12 measurement
readings from
Keithley 6514 system electrometer, the isothermal electric current from
electrobottle "(3)
Cs0Ag-Cu" at 20.5 C, 23 C and 25 C was measured to be 2.12 0.03 pA, 5.81
0.03 pA and
7.35 0.02 pA, respectively. This experimental result demonstrated that
isothermal electricity
production can indeed increase dramatically with the rising of environmental
temperature as
expected.
Table 11 presents the experimental isothermal electricity production results
from a prototype
isothermal electricity generator (electrobottle "(3) Cs0Ag-Cu") measured as a
function of
operating temperature at 20.5 C, 23 C and 25 C with Keithley 6514
electrometer's zero check
and zero (baseline) correction (CZ) functions.
Temperature 20.5 C 23 C 25 C 25 C 25 C
Measurements pA.CZ pA.CZ pA.CZ rev, pA.CZ mV.CZ
Reading 1 2.06 5.75 7.336 -7.48 55.5
Reading 2 2.10 5.81 7.361 -7.468 55.2
Reading 3 2.10 5.86 7.33 -7.446 55.0
Reading 4 2.11 5.80 7.36 -7.455 54.8
Reading 5 2.16 5.82 7.355 -7.442 54.5
Reading 6 2.14 5.80 7.342 -7.44 54.3
Reading 7 2.15 5.81 7.335 -7.43 54.0
Reading 8 2.14 5.82 7.354 -7.415 53.9
Reading 9 2.13 5.80 7.343 -7.401 53.7
Reading 10 2.10 5.84 7.35 -7.413 53.5
Reading 11 2.13 5.82 7.39 -7.406 53.2
Reading 12 2.12 5.84 7.29 -7.418 53.1
Mean 2.12 5.81 7.35 -7.43 54.2
STD 0.03 0.03 0.02 0.03 0.8
pA/cm2 0.115 0.316 0.399 -0.404
[0184] When the isothermal electricity from electrobottle "(3) Cs0Ag-Cu" was
measured in
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reverse polarity (Keithley 6514 system's Model 237-ALG-2 low noise cable black
alligator
connector to Cs0Ag plate (a type of Ag-O-Cs emitter) and red alligator
connector to Cu
collector plate), the isothermal electric current was measured to be ¨7.43
0.03 pA (Table 11),
somewhat similar to that observed in electrobottle "Cs0Ag-Cu 1" (Table 10).
[0185]
According to the measurements with 12 readings from Keithley 6514 system
electrometer, the isothermal electric voltage output from electrobottle "(3)
Cs0Ag-Cu" at 25 C
was measured to be 54.2 0.8 mV (Table 11). Based on the isothermal electric
voltage (54.2
0.8 mV) and isothermal electric current (7.35 0.02 pA) as measured at 25 C,
the isothermal
electricity power output was calculated to be 3.98 x10'3 Watts for the
electrobottle "(3)
Cs0Ag-Cu" prototype device in this example.
[0186] As
listed in Table 11, the electricity current density across the Cs0Ag plate
surface
area in electrobottle "(3) Cs0Ag-Cu" was measured to be 0.399 pA/cm2 with
normal polarity
and ¨0.404 pA/cm2 when measured with reverse polarity. By taking the absolute
values, the
averaged electricity current density in electrobottle "(3) Cs0Ag-Cu" was
calculated to be 0.402
pA/cm2. Based on this experimentally determined isothermal electron flux
(JiõT) of 0.402
pA/cm2 at 25 C, the work function of the Cs0Ag emitter plate surface in
electrobottle "(3)
Cs0Ag-Cu" was estimated to be about 1.1 eV.
[00187] Fig.
33a presents a photograph of another prototype electrobottle placed inside a
Faraday box and tested in normal polarity (Keithley 6514 system electrometer's
low noise
cable/red alligator connector to Cs0Ag Ag plate (a type of Ag-O-Cs emitter)
and black alligator
connector to Cu collector plate), showing an electric current reading of
"11.888 pA.CZ". This
shows that the isothermal electric current from this prototype electrobottle
was approximately
11.89 pA as measured at room temperature (21 C) with Keithley 6514
electrometer's zero
check and zero (baseline) correction (CZ). When the same electrobottle was
tested in its reverse
polarity (Keithley 6514 black alligator connector to Cs0Ag plate and red
alligator connector to
Cu plate) as shown in Fig. 33b, it showed a negative electric current reading
of "-11.030
pA.CZ". This is important experimental result since it demonstrated that the
sign of the
measured electric current was indeed dependent on the polarity of the Cs0Ag-Cu
electrobottle
as expected.
[0188] Fig.
34a presents a photograph of another Cs0Ag-Cu electrobottle placed inside a
Faraday box and tested in normal polarity (Keithley 6514 red alligator
connector to Cs0Ag
emitter plate and black alligator connector to Cu collector plate), showing an
electric voltage
reading of "0.10051 V.CZ". This shows that the isothermal electric voltage
from this sample
electrobottle was approximately 100.5 mV as measured at room temperature (21
C) with
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Keithley 6514 electrometer's zero check and zero (baseline) correction (CZ).
Subsequently,
when this Cs0Ag-Cu electrobottle was short-circuited by connecting with a wire
between the
terminal (red wire) of Cs0Ag plate and the terminal (blue wire) of Cu plate as
shown in Fig.
34b, it immediately resulted in a zero electric voltage output reading of "-
0.00001 V.CZ" as
expected. Finally, when the same Cs0Ag-Cu electrobottle was tested in reverse
polarity
(Keithley 6514 system's black alligator connector to Cs0Ag emitter plate and
red alligator
connector to Cu collector plate as shown in Fig. 34c), it resulted in a
negative electric voltage
output reading of "-0.11329 V.CZ" as expected as well. This is also an
important result since it
demonstrated that the sign of the measured electric voltage was indeed
dependent on the polarity
of the prototype Cs0Ag-Cu electrobottle as expected according to one of the
various
embodiments in the present invention.
[0189] Figure 35 presents a photograph of two prototype electrobottles
connected in parallel
with their normal polarity (Keithley 6514 system's red alligator connector to
Cs0Ag emitters
and black alligator connector to Cu collectors) inside a Faraday box, showing
an electric current
reading of "22.230 pA.CZ". The two prototype electrobottles have an
individually measured
isothermal electric current of about 11 pA each. According to Eq. 20 disclosed
above, when
pluralities (n) of the asymmetric function-gated isothermal electricity
generator systems are used
in parallel, the total electrical current (I sat(total)) is the summation of
the electrical current
('sat(i) as of Eq. 16) from each of the asymmetric function-gated isothermal
electricity generator
systems. Therefore, the predicted isothermal electric current for the two
prototype electrobottles
used in parallel should be 22 pA, which excellently matched with the measured
electric current
reading of "22.230 pA.CZ". This is an important result since it demonstrated
that the isothermal
electric current generation effects of the electrobottles used in parallel are
indeed additive in
nature as expected in accordance with one of the various embodiments in the
present invention.
[0190] Figure 36 presents a photograph of three prototype electrobottles
connected in parallel
in normal polarity (Keithley 6514 red alligator connector to Cs0Ag emitters
and black alligator
connector to Cu collectors) inside a Faraday box, showing an electric current
reading of "26.166
pA.CZ". As noted above, the first two prototype electrobottles have an
individually measured
isothermal electric current of about 11 pA each and the third electrobottle
has an measured
isothermal electric current of about 4 pA. Therefore, the predicted total
isothermal electric
current for the three prototype electrobottles connected in parallel should be
26 pA, which
matched well with the measured electric current reading of "26.166 pA.CZ".
This is an
important result since it again demonstrated that the isothermal electricity
generation effects of
the prototype electrobottles connected in parallel are indeed additive in
accordance with one of
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the various embodiments in the present invention.
[0191] While the present invention has been illustrated by description of
several embodiments
and while the illustrative embodiments have been described in considerable
detail, it is not the
intention of the applicant to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the
invention claims to such
detail. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those
skilled in the art.
Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific
details, representative
apparatus and methods, and illustrative examples shown and described.
Accordingly, departures
may be made from such details without departing from the spirit or scope of
applicant's general
inventive
concept.
