Systems and methods for photophoretic propulsion for flight

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12252598-B2
Application number	US-202217742887-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 12, 2022
Priority date	May 12, 2021
Publication date	Mar 18, 2025
Grant date	Mar 18, 2025

Abstract

Systems and methods for achieving levitation via a photophoretic effect are provided. In certain embodiments, a structure of ultralight materials is provided, for example a BoPET film and carbon nanotubes and has a top and bottom side, made of two separate materials. When the bottom side is illuminated by light at certain intensity, it can result in an upward lift force being applied to the entire structure, causing the structure to levitate.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for achieving photophoretic levitation, comprising:
a structure having a top side and a bottom side;
wherein the top side comprises a first material configured to reflect a portion of incident particles without trapping the particles; and
wherein the bottom side comprises a second material configured to trap incident particles for a first time period.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the top side comprises a biaxially-oriented polyethylene terephthalate (BoPET) film.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the BoPET film has a thickness of approximately 500 nanometers.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the top side further comprises a layer of aluminum oxide deposited onto the BoPET film using atomic layer deposition.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the bottom side comprises one or more carbon nanotubes.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the one or more carbon nanotubes each have a diameter between 1 to 2 nanometers and a length between 5 and 30 micrometers.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the bottom side has a thickness of approximately 300 nanometers.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the structure comprises a disk.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the disk has a diameter of approximately 6 millimeters.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second material is configured to provide rigidity to the structure.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second materials is a light absorber with a visible-range absorptivity of greater than 80%.

12. The system of claim 1 , further comprising one or more components attached to the structure.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the one or more components include at least a temperature sensor.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the one or more components include at least a camera.

Assignees

• Univ Pennsylvania

Inventors

• Bargatin Igor
• Lu Zhipeng
• Azadi Mohsen

Classifications

• C08J5/18 Primary

  Manufacture of films or sheets · CPC title

• C08J5/005

  Reinforced macromolecular compounds with nanosized materials, e.g. nanoparticles, nanofibres, nanotubes, nanowires, nanorods or nanolayered materials · CPC title

• C08J5/00

  Manufacture of articles or shaped materials containing macromolecular substances (manufacture of semi-permeable membranes B01D67/00 - B01D71/00) · CPC title

• C08J2367/02

  Polyesters derived from dicarboxylic acids and dihydroxy compounds; (C08J2367/06 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B64B1/00

  Lighter-than-air aircraft · CPC title