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Portable and flexible water-evaporation-generator based on hydrogel

基于水凝胶的便携式柔性水蒸发生电器件

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摘要

水蒸发生电器件(WEG)是近年来发现的一种从自然水蒸发中获 取能量的新方法, 其巨大的应用潜力引起了广泛的研究兴趣. 然而, WEG通常需要提供液态水源, 不利于其便携式应用. 这里, 我们开发了一种基于聚丙烯酰胺水凝胶与网状电极复合的便携式柔性WEG. 当器件的一侧暴露在空气中时, 不对称的水分蒸发会产生持续3天以上0.2 V左右的开路电压输出. 即使在温度低至−5°C情况下, 也可以连续工作. 尽管低温下由于水分蒸发受到抑制, 其输出电压会降低. 水凝胶出色的柔韧性和可拉伸性为构建可拉伸应变高达60%以上的WEG提供了可能. 其输出电压几乎不受所施加应变的影响, 展示了其在便携式电源应用中的巨大潜力.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2019YFA0705400), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (12150002, 12172176, 12002158, 52002175, and 11802121), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20212008 and BK20211191), the Research Fund of State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control of Mechanical Structures (MCMS-I-0421G01 and MCMS-I-0421K01), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2018T110494, 2020TQ0146, and 2021M701703), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (NE2020001, NJ2020003, NZ2020001, and NS2021042), and a Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Mechanics and Control of Mechanical Structures, Key Laboratory for Intelligent Nano Materials and Devices of the Ministry of Education, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 210016, China

    Xuemei Li  (李雪梅), Jianxin Zhou  (周建新), Jun Yin  (殷俊) & Wanlin Guo  (郭万林)

  2. College of Aerospace engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 210016, China

    Zixuan Liao  (廖紫璇), Luxian Li  (李露仙), Jianxin Zhou  (周建新), Jun Yin  (殷俊) & Wanlin Guo  (郭万林)

  3. College of Material Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 210016, China

    Xuemei Li  (李雪梅), Jiyuan Niu  (牛纪远), Cong Hu  (胡聪) & Honglie Shen  (沈鸿烈)

  4. Institute for Frontier Science, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, 210016, China

    Jidong Li  (李基东) & Wanlin Guo  (郭万林)

Authors
  1. Xuemei Li  (李雪梅)
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  2. Zixuan Liao  (廖紫璇)
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  3. Jiyuan Niu  (牛纪远)
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  4. Cong Hu  (胡聪)
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  5. Luxian Li  (李露仙)
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  6. Jidong Li  (李基东)
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  7. Jianxin Zhou  (周建新)
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  8. Honglie Shen  (沈鸿烈)
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  9. Jun Yin  (殷俊)
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  10. Wanlin Guo  (郭万林)
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Contributions

Li X conceived the study. Yin J and Guo W supervised the project. Liao Z, with assistance from Niu J, Hu C, and Li L, performed the experiments. Li X and Yin J wrote the paper with input from Shen H. All authors contributed to the general discussion and preparation of the manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Xuemei Li  (李雪梅), Jun Yin  (殷俊) or Wanlin Guo  (郭万林).

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Supplementary information

Experimental details are available in the online version of the paper.

Xuemei Li received her PhD degree in 2016 with a thesis on the synthesis and properties of two-dimensional materials. Now she is an associate professor at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA) and focuses on the physical mechanics of nanomaterials.

Jun Yin obtained his PhD degree from NUAA in 2016, following which he worked at the University of Manchester as a research associate for three years. Then, he joined NUAA in 2019 as a professor. His research focuses on the surface/interface interaction of nanomaterials and their applications.

Wanlin Guo is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, chair professor in mechanics and nanoscience, and founder and director of the Institute of Nanoscience, NUAA. His current research focuses on (1) three-dimensional fatigue fracture and damage tolerance and durability design of structures; (2) intelligent nanomaterials and devices, multiscale physical mechanics, novel conception and technology for efficient energy conversion; (3) molecular physical mechanics for neuronal signaling and molecular biomimics.

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Li, X., Liao, Z., Niu, J. et al. Portable and flexible water-evaporation-generator based on hydrogel. Sci. China Mater. 65, 2889–2893 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-022-2086-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-022-2086-9

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