Department of Applied Chemistry, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan.
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), AIST Central 2-13, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0047, Japan.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2017 Jul 3;56(28):8130-8133. doi: 10.1002/anie.201703227. Epub 2017 Jun 8.
Autonomous micro/nano mechanical, chemical, and biomedical sensors require persistent power sources scaled to their size. Realization of autonomous micro-power sources is a challenging task, as it requires combination of wireless energy supply, conversion, storage, and delivery to the sensor. Herein, we realized a solar-light-driven power source that consists of a micro fuel cell (μFC) and a photocatalytic micro fuel generator (μFG) integrated on a single microfluidic chip. The μFG produces hydrogen by photocatalytic water splitting under solar light. The hydrogen fuel is then consumed by the μFC to generate electricity. Importantly, the by-product water returns back to the photocatalytic μFG via recirculation loop without losses. Both devices rely on novel phenomena in extended-nano-fluidic channels that ensure ultra-fast proton transport. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate that μFG/μFC source achieves remarkable energy density of ca. 17.2 mWh cm at room temperature.
自主式微纳机械、化学和生物医学传感器需要与自身尺寸相匹配的持久电源。实现自主微电源是一项具有挑战性的任务，因为它需要将无线能量供应、转换、存储和输送到传感器进行组合。在这里，我们实现了一种由微燃料电池（μFC）和光催化微燃料发生器（μFG）集成在单个微流控芯片上的太阳能驱动电源。μFG 在太阳光下通过光催化水分解产生氢气。然后，氢气燃料被 μFC 消耗以产生电能。重要的是，副产品水通过再循环回路返回光催化 μFG，而不会有损失。这两个装置都依赖于扩展纳米流道中的新现象，以确保超快质子传输。作为概念验证，我们证明了 μFG/μFC 源在室温下实现了约 17.2 mWh cm 的惊人能量密度。
