Harvesting Atmospheric Ions Using Surface Electromagnetic Wave Technologies

Resumen

For the first time, this paper discloses the use of flowing water for capturing atmospheric ions into a DC electricity. The proposed methodology can be employed to neutralize the positively charged pollutants in air, which are believed to be harmful to our health. Methodology: Atmospheric ions can be collected by a negatively charged antenna which comprises a dielectric layer sandwiched between a top aluminium layer and a bottom lead plate. The top aluminium layer is used to collect the ambient protons, whilst the bottom lead plate is negatively charged by a negative static electricity extracted from flowing water. The voltage has been measured between the top aluminium layer and the bottom lead plate with and without any sunlight. Results: Without any UV light or other electromagnetic disturbance, the generated voltage has rapidly increased from 200 mV to 480 mV within 5 seconds if the bottom lead plate is connected to the negative ion source. Without the negative ion source, however, the output voltage fell to around 10 mV and any significant voltage rise can be observed even in the presence of an UV light. Conclusions: Capturing atmospheric ions is technically feasible. Measured results suggest that, when used in conjunction with a negative ion source, the proposed device can harvest atmospheric ions without any UV light.