Ioanna Tzoumani1, Konstantinos C. Andrikopoulos1, Joannis Kallitsis1,2
1 Department of Chemistry, University of Patras, GR-26504 Rio-Patras, Greece;
2 FORTH/ICE-HT, GR-26504 Rio-Patras, Greece
Exploring sustainable energy has been an urgent challenge for human society due to energy shortage. Harvesting electricity through ubiquitous atmospheric moisture has been an emerging technology to address the energy shortage challenge. Tremendous amounts of gaseous water molecules are stored in ambient air, serving as an overlooked, huge water and energy source [1]. Moisture electricity generators (MEGs) hold the potential to be an exciting next-generation platform for energy harvesting, because electricity can be generated directly through spontaneous moisture adsorption by functionalized nanomaterials [2,3].
Centering on the goal of high performance and continuous electricity output, which is crucial for promoting the practical application of MEGs, our research mainly focuses on material regulation and structure optimization during moisture adsorption. We introduce single-layer crosslinked membranes employing water-soluble functional polymers combined with various carbon nanostructures, that show high sensitivity to humidity [4]. The fabrication processes are cost-effective, scalable, and environmentally friendly. The crucial hydro-interaction between hygroscopic materials and water molecules is determined. Properties of these hygroscopic materials, including their microstructure morphology, physicochemical, mechanical and electrochemical characteristics, as well as humidity-driven response have been extensively studied. These self-standing composite membranes, capable of responding to humidity gradients, can likely enhance energy harvesting performance, and more importantly, unlock more applications in the fields of actuators for non-contact human-machine interfaces and soft robotics.
References
1. Wang, P.; Xu, J.; Wang, R.; Li, T. Emerging self-sustained electricity generation enabled by moisture. Cell Rep. Phys. Sci. 2023, 4(8), 101517. DOI:10.1016/j.xcrp.2023.101517.
2. Zhao, F.; Cheng, H.; Zhang, Z.; Jiang, L.; Qu, L. Direct Power Generation from a Graphene Oxide Film under Moisture. Adv. Mater. 2015, 27(29), 4351-4357. DOI:10.1002/adma.201501867.
3. Xu, T.; Ding, X.; Cheng, H.; Han, G.; Qu, L. Moisture-Enabled Electricity from Hygroscopic Materials: A New Type of Clean Energy. Adv. Mater. 2024, 36, 2209661. DOI:10.1002/adma.202209661.
4. Tzoumani, I.; Druvari, D.; Andrikopoulos, A.C.; Dominguez-Alfaro, A.; Malliaras, G.G.; Kallitsis, J.K. Facile Fabrication of Dual-conductivity, Humidity-responsive Single-layer Membranes: Towards Advanced Applications in Sensing, Actuation, and Energy generation. J. Mater. Chem. C 2024, 12, 11594–11602. DOI:10.1039/d4tc02195a.