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Flexible, self-cleaning, and high-performance ceramic nanofiber-based moist-electric generator enabled by interfacial engineering

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Abstract

Due to their long-term stability, even under extreme conditions, oxide ceramics have attracted significant attention in emerging fields like moist-electric generation However, the inherent brittleness and low voltage output of oxide ceramic-based moist-electric generators (MEGs) limit their applications in wearable electronics. Herein, a facile strategy involving the combination of sol-gel electrospinning and calcination is used to fabricate flexible and freestanding TiO2/ZrO2 (TZ) composite nanofiber-based MEGs. The excellent flexibility of the TZ nanofiber membranes can be attributed to the suppression of their crystal structure transformation, dispersion of stress concentration, and reduction of crack propagation via interfacial engineering The porous structure of the electrospun nanofiber membrane features an abundance of charged narrow channels for the diffusion of water molecules and generates a streaming potential: The optimal voltage output reached ∼0.8 V, which is the highest value reported for an oxide ceramic-based MEG. Furthermore, the as-fabricated nanofiber-based MEG exhibits good self-cleaning capability to degrade organic pollutants under ultraviolet irradiation. By integrating mechanical flexibility, high performance, and a self-cleaning effect, this work presents a new idea for exploring diverse, efficient, and wearable oxide ceramic-based MEGs.

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Funding

This work was partly supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant Nos. 2232020D-15, 2232020A-08, 2232020G-01, 2232020D-14, 2232019D3-11) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 51773037, 51973027, 51803023, 52003044, 61771123). This work has also been supported by the Chang Jiang Scholars Program and the Innovation Program of Shanghai Municipal Education Commission (Grant No. 2019-01-07-00-03-E00023) to Prof. QIN XiaoHong, the Shanghai Sailing Program (Grant No. 19YF1400700), the Opening Project of State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure (Grant No. SKL201906SIC), the Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CAST, and the DHU Distinguished Young Professor Program to Prof. WANG LiMing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Textile Science & Technology, Ministry of Education, College of Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China

    LiMing Wang, LanLan Feng, ZhaoYang Sun, XinYang He, RongWu Wang & XiaoHong Qin

  2. Innovation Center for Textile Science and Technology, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, China

    JianYong Yu

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  1. LiMing Wang
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  2. LanLan Feng
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  3. ZhaoYang Sun
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  4. XinYang He
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  5. RongWu Wang
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  6. XiaoHong Qin
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  7. JianYong Yu
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Correspondence to RongWu Wang or XiaoHong Qin.

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The supporting information is available online at tech.scichina.com and link.springer.com. The supporting materials are published as submitted, without typesetting or editing. The responsibility for scientific accuracy and content remains entirely with the authors.

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11431_2021_1969_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Flexible, self-cleaning and high-performance ceramic nanofiber based moist-electric generator enabled by interfacial engineering

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Wang, L., Feng, L., Sun, Z. et al. Flexible, self-cleaning, and high-performance ceramic nanofiber-based moist-electric generator enabled by interfacial engineering. Sci. China Technol. Sci. 65, 450–457 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-021-1969-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-021-1969-y

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