Xu Chen, Wang Xudong, Wang Zhong Lin
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0245, USA.
J Am Chem Soc. 2009 Apr 29;131(16):5866-72. doi: 10.1021/ja810158x.
Conversion cells for harvesting solar energy and mechanical energy are usually separate and independent entities that are designed and built following different physical principles. Developing a technology that harvests multiple-type energies in forms such as sun light and mechanical around the clock is desperately desired for fully utilizing the energies available in our living environment. We report a hybrid cell that is intended for simultaneously harvesting solar and mechanical energies. Using aligned ZnO nanowire arrays grown on surfaces of a flat substrate, a dye-sensitized solar cell is integrated with a piezoelectric nanogenerator. The former harvests solar energy irradiating on the top, and the latter harvests ultrasonic wave energy from the surrounding. The two energy harvesting approaches can work simultaneously or individually, and they can be integrated in parallel and serial for raising the output current and voltage, respectively, as well as power. It is found that the voltage output from the solar cell can be used to raise the output voltage of the nanogenerator, providing an effective approach for effectively storing and utilizing the power generated by the nanogenerator. Our study demonstrates a new approach for concurrently harvesting multiple types of energies using an integrated hybrid cell so that the energy resources can be effectively and complementary utilized whenever and wherever one or all of them is available.
用于收集太阳能和机械能的转换电池通常是相互分离且独立的实体，它们依据不同的物理原理进行设计和制造。迫切需要开发一种能够全天候以太阳光和机械能等形式收集多种类型能量的技术，以便充分利用我们生活环境中可用的能量。我们报道了一种旨在同时收集太阳能和机械能的混合电池。利用生长在平坦衬底表面的对齐的氧化锌纳米线阵列，将染料敏化太阳能电池与压电纳米发电机集成在一起。前者收集照射在顶部的太阳能，后者收集来自周围环境的超声波能量。这两种能量收集方法可以同时或单独工作，并且它们可以并联和串联集成，分别用于提高输出电流和电压以及功率。研究发现，太阳能电池的电压输出可用于提高纳米发电机的输出电压，这为有效存储和利用纳米发电机产生的电力提供了一种有效方法。我们的研究展示了一种使用集成混合电池同时收集多种类型能量的新方法，从而无论何时何地一种或所有能量可用时，都能有效且互补地利用能源资源。
