Qin Yuanshuai, Wang Yusheng, Sun Xiaoyue, Li Yajuan, Xu Hao, Tan Yeshu, Li Ya, Song Tao, Sun Baoquan
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, P. R. China.
Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2020 Jun 22;59(26):10619-10625. doi: 10.1002/anie.202002762. Epub 2020 Apr 15.
Recently, hydrovoltaic technology emerged as a novel renewable energy harvesting method, which dramatically extends the capability to harvest water energy. However, the urgent issue restricting its device performance is poor carrier transport properties of the solid surface if large charged interface is considered simultaneously. Herein, a hydrovoltaic device based on silicon nanowire arrays (SiNWs), which provide large charged surface/volume ratio and excellent carrier transport properties, yields sustained electricity by a carrier concentration gradient induced by evaporation-induced water flow inside nanochannels. The device can yield direct current with a short-circuit current density of over 55 μA cm , which is three orders larger than a previously reported analogous device (approximately 40 nA cm ). Moreover, it exhibits a constant output power density of over 6 μW cm and an open-circuit voltage of up to 400 mV. Our finding may pave a way for developing energy-harvesting devices from ubiquitous evaporation-driven internal water flow in nature with semiconductor material of silicon.
最近，水力发电技术作为一种新型可再生能源采集方法出现，极大地扩展了采集水能的能力。然而，如果同时考虑大电荷界面，限制其器件性能的紧迫问题是固体表面的载流子传输性能较差。在此，基于硅纳米线阵列（SiNWs）的水力发电装置，其具有大的电荷表面/体积比和优异的载流子传输性能，通过纳米通道内蒸发诱导水流引起的载流子浓度梯度产生持续的电力。该装置能够产生短路电流密度超过55 μA cm 的直流电，这比之前报道的类似装置（约40 nA cm ）大三个数量级。此外，它表现出超过6 μW cm 的恒定输出功率密度和高达400 mV的开路电压。我们的发现可能为利用自然界中普遍存在的蒸发驱动内部水流与硅半导体材料开发能量采集装置铺平道路。
