arXiv:2308.09083cond-mat.mes-hall
Charging capacitors from thermal fluctuations using diodes
Early discovery. Linked by one identifiable commenter. This paper is outside the main ranking; a mention is not an endorsement.
Abstract
We theoretically consider a graphene ripple as a Brownian particle coupled to an energy storage circuit. When circuit and particle are at the same temperature, the second law forbids harvesting energy from the thermal motion of the Brownian particle, even if the circuit contains a rectifying diode. However, when the circuit contains a junction followed by two diodes wired in opposition, the approach to equilibrium may become ultraslow. Detailed balance is temporarily broken as current flows between the two diodes and charges storage capacitors. The energy harvested by each capacitor comes from the thermal bath of the diodes while the system obeys the first and second laws of thermodynamics.
There’s a non-paywall version on arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.09083 The paper you mention is indeed cited.
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