Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging platform in which every day physical objects provided with unique identifiers are connected to the Internet without requiring human interaction. The possibilities of such a connected world enables new forms of automation to make our lives easier and safer. Evidently, in order to keep billions of these communicating devices powered long-term, a self-sustainable operation is a key point for realization of such a complex network. In this sense, energy-harvesting technologies combined with low power consumption ICs eliminate the need for batteries, removing an obstacle to the success of the IoT. In this work, a Radio Frequency (RF) energy harvester tuned at AM broadcast has been developed for low consumption power devices. The AM signals from ambient are detected via a high-performance antenna-free LC circuit with an efficiency of 3.2%. To maximize energy scavenging, the RF-DC conversion stage is based on a full-wave Cockcroft–Walton voltage multiplier (CWVM) with efficiency up to 90%. System performance is evaluated by rating the maximum power delivered into the load via its output impedance, which is around 62 μW, although power level seems to be low, it is able to power up low consumption devices such as Leds, portable calculators and weather monitoring stations.

Heat transfer phenomena in multilayer structures have gained interest due to their promising use in thermal insulation and thermoelectricity applications. In such systems, nanostructuring has been used to introduce moderate interfacial density, and it has been demonstrated that interfacial thermal resistance plays a crucial role in reducing thermal conductivity κ. Nevertheless, the main constraint for actual applications is related to their tiny size because they are extremely thin to establish appreciable temperature gradients. In this work, by severe plastic deformation process of accumulative roll bonding (ARB), a 250 µm thick Cu‑Nb multilayer containing more than 8000 interfaces with periods below 40 nm was obtained, enabling the production of bulk metallic nanolaminates with ultralow κ. Multilayers present an ultralow κ of ~0.81 W/mK at 300 K, which is 100 times smaller than its Cu‑Nb bulk counterpart, and even lower than the amorphous lattice limit for the Cu‑Nb thin film system. By using electron diffusive mismatch model (EDMM), we argue that both electrons diffusively scattering at interface and those ballistically crossing the constituents are responsible for heat conduction in the Cu‑Nb multilayers at nanoscale. Hence, ARB Cu‑Nb multilayers are intriguing candidate materials which can prove avenues to achieve stable ultralow κ thermal barriers for robust applications.

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Hypothetically, a thermal rectifier is a device which leads a greater heat flux in one direction than another one, similarly as the electrical diode works for the electrical flux. Here, a drastic increment in the rectification factor has been obtained in nanoscale layered thermal diodes due to the effect of thermal boundary resistance present on an asymmetrical stack of nanofilms. Measurements show a thermal rectification factor as large as 3.3 under a temperature bias well below 1 K, which is the biggest thermal rectification factor reported at room temperature compared to previously reported thermal diodes so far. According to the direction of the applied heat flux, the observed impact of the thermal boundary resistance on the device is manifested through the presence of an asymmetric temperature rise along the heat transfer axis. Such effect provides an alternative route for the development of high performance thermal diodes.