Work

Continuous Energy Harvesting from Ubiquitous Humidity Gradients using Liquid‐Infused Nanofluidics

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: Humidity‐based power generation that converts internal energy of water molecules into electricity is an emerging approach for harvesting clean energy from nature. Here it is proposed that intrinsic gradient within a humidity field near sweating surfaces, such as rivers, soil, or animal skin, is a promising power resource when integrated with liquid‐infused nanofluidics. Specifically, capillary‐stabilized ionic liquid (IL, Omim + Cl ‐ ) film is exposed to the above humidity field to create a sustained transmembrane water‐content difference, which enables asymmetric ion‐diffusion across the nanoconfined fluidics, facilitating long‐term electricity generation with the power density of ≈12.11 µW cm ‐2 . This high record is attributed to the nanoconfined IL that integrates van der Waals and electrostatic interactions to block movement of Omim + clusters while allowing for directional diffusion of moisture‐liberated Cl + . This humidity gradient triggers large ion‐diffusion flux for power generation indicates great potential of sweating surfaces considering that most of the earth is covered by water or soil.

Source: Advanced Materials

DOI: 10.1002/adma.202106410