Materials And Devices Of Highly Efficient Moisture-Enabled Electricity Generation

Owing to pressing global warming and energy crisis,the power generation technology that converts green environmental energy into electric energy has attracted enormous research interest.The moisture-enabled power generation,considered as a new energy conversion technology,can effectively produce electric power by interacting with ambient moisture,which thus is of great scientific importance and application value.However,previously reported moisture-enabled power generator(MEG)has been restricted by single transferable charges and non-cycle adsorption process,as well as lack of large-scale integration technology and versatility design,leading to its substandard electric output,poor recycle ability,and insufficient functionality.Herein,based on materials and structure regulation strategy,we mainly focus on four aspects,including designing all-new power-generating materials,developing large-scale integration method,constructing closed-loop mode of moisture power generation,and optimizing device function,resulting in achievements of high voltage output,full-cyclic and versatile device.Meanwhile,the mechanism understanding and practical application of moisture power generation could be further given impetus.The main contents are summarized as follows.Inspired by the form of the asymmetrical lipid bilayer,we herein design a brand-new electricity-generating material by adopting a bilayer of polyelectrolyte films.The bilayer can spontaneously adsorb water molecules from moist air,inducing the heterogeneous distribution and directional diffusion of charged mobile ions(Cl~-and H~+),which significantly increases the numbers and types of transferable charges in MEG.One single MEG unit can deliver a high voltage of～0.95V at low(25%)relative humidity.Furthermore,laser processing method is developed for large-scale integration of MEG units,to offer a voltage of more than 1000V,thus the high voltage output of MEG is realized in the ambient environment.Based on component composite and specific package,we have construed stable moisture adsorption/desorption material and moisture adsorption/desorption power generator(MADG)device,which not only exerts moisture-adsorbing power generation at high humidity but also endows moisture-desorbing electricity generation at low humidity,thus realizing full-cyclic electric output.We also have systematically explored the interaction between water molecules and materials during the adsorption and desorption processes,and proposed the power-generating mechanism as follows:moisture adsorption power generation driving by ion concentration difference and desorption power generation dominated by ion-hydration energy.In the outdoor test,the MADG device could enable to deliver considerable electric output in the dynamic environment,suggesting its practical applicability.Furthermore,in order to optimize the functionality of MEG device,we utilize the PSS-PVA hybrid film served as power-generating material and silver nanowire as electrodes based on material and structure design.Correspondingly,a versatile one-all-in moist-electric film generator(MEFG)integrated with transparent,self-healing,flexible,and arbitrary tailorable characters,could be developed.Benefiting from dynamic hydrogen-bonding interactions,a broken MEFG can not only rebuild structure to remain flexible and transparent,but also revive electricity-generating performance,effectively improving device stability.Thus,the multi-functional MEFG device indicates potential applications in self-powered,wearable,self-healing,and optical electronics.