Mirror-backed Dark Alumina: A Nearly Perfect Absorber for Thermoelectronics and Thermophotovotaics
Type
ArticleAuthors
Farhat, MohamedCheng, Tsung-Chieh
Le, Khai. Q.
Cheng, Mark Ming-Cheng
Bagci, Hakan

Chen, Pai-Yen
KAUST Department
Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering (CEMSE) DivisionElectrical Engineering Program
Date
2016-01-28Online Publication Date
2016-01-28Print Publication Date
2016-04Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/595302
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
We present here a broadband, wide-angle, and polarization-independent nearly perfect absorber consisting of mirror-backed nanoporous alumina. By electrochemically anodizing the disordered multicomponent aluminum and properly tailoring the thickness and air-filling fraction of nanoporous alumina, according to the Maxwell-Garnet mixture theory, a large-area dark alumina can be made with excellent photothermal properties and absorption larger than 93% over a wide wavelength range spanning from near-infrared to ultraviolet light, i.e. 250 nm–2500 nm. The measured absorption is orders of magnitude greater than other reported anodized porous alumina, typically semi-transparent at similar wavelengths. This simple yet effective approach, however, does not require any lithography, nano-mixture deposition, pre- and post-treatment. Here, we also envisage and theoretically investigate the practical use of proposed absorbers and/or photothermal converters in integrated thermoelectronic and/or thermophotovoltaic energy conversion devices, which make efficient use of the entire spectrum of ambient visible to near-infrared radiation.Citation
Mirror-backed Dark Alumina: A Nearly Perfect Absorber for Thermoelectronics and Thermophotovotaics 2016, 6:19984 Scientific ReportsPublisher
Springer NatureJournal
Scientific ReportsPubMed ID
26817710Additional Links
http://www.nature.com/articles/srep19984ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1038/srep19984