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Composite laminar membranes for electricity generation from water evaporation

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Abstract

Harvesting clean energy from water evaporation has been extensively investigated due to its sustainability. To achieve high efficiency, energy conversion materials should contain multiple features which are difficult to be simultaneously obtained from single-component materials. Here we use composite laminar membranes assembled by nanosheets of graphene oxide and mica, and find a sustained power density induced by water evaporation that is two orders of magnitude larger than that from membranes made by either of the components. The power output is attributed to selective proton transport driven by water evaporation through the interlayer nanochannels in the membranes. This process relies on the synergistic effects from negatively charged and hydrophilic mica surfaces that are important for proton selectivity and water transport, and the tunable electrical conductivity of graphene oxide that provides optimized internal resistance. The demonstrated composite membranes offer a strategy of enhancing power generation by combining the advantages from each of their components.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge support from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2019YFA0705400), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21972121 and 22021001), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 20720210017).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Xiao Wang, Gang Yuan, Han Zhou, Yu Jiang, Shuo Wang, Jiaojiao Ma, Chongyang Yang & Sheng Hu

  2. Innovation Laboratory for Sciences and Technologies of Energy Materials of Fujian Province (IKKEM), Xiamen, 361005, China

    Sheng Hu

  3. Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, China

    Sheng Hu

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  1. Xiao Wang
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  2. Gang Yuan
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  3. Han Zhou
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  4. Yu Jiang
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  5. Shuo Wang
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  7. Chongyang Yang
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  8. Sheng Hu
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Correspondence to Sheng Hu.

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Wang, X., Yuan, G., Zhou, H. et al. Composite laminar membranes for electricity generation from water evaporation. Nano Res. 17, 307–311 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5906-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5906-5

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