Yang Su, Zhang Lei, Mao Jianfeng, Guo Jianmiao, Chai Yang, Hao Jianhua, Chen Wei, Tao Xiaoming
Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable Systems, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, P. R. China.
School of Fashion and Textiles, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, P. R. China.
Nat Commun. 2024 Apr 18;15(1):3329. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-47652-3.
Moisture-electric generators (MEGs) has emerged as promising green technology to achieve carbon neutrality in next-generation energy suppliers, especially combined with ecofriendly materials. Hitherto, challenges remain for MEGs as direct power source in practical applications due to low and intermittent electric output. Here we design a green MEG with high direct-current electricity by introducing polyvinyl alcohol-sodium alginate-based supramolecular hydrogel as active material. A single unit can generate an improved power density of ca. 0.11 mW cm, a milliamp-scale short-circuit current density of ca. 1.31 mA cm and an open-circuit voltage of ca. 1.30 V. Such excellent electricity is mainly attributed to enhanced moisture absorption and remained water gradient to initiate ample ions transport within hydrogel by theoretical calculation and experiments. Notably, an enlarged current of ca. 65 mA is achieved by a parallel-integrated MEG bank. The scalable MEGs can directly power many commercial electronics in real-life scenarios, such as charging smart watch, illuminating a household bulb, driving a digital clock for one month. This work provides new insight into constructing green, high-performance and scalable energy source for Internet-of-Things and wearable applications.
湿气发电机(MEGs)已成为一种有前景的绿色技术,有望在下一代能源供应中实现碳中和,特别是与环保材料相结合时。迄今为止,由于低且间歇性的电力输出,MEGs作为实际应用中的直接电源仍面临挑战。在此,我们通过引入基于聚乙烯醇-海藻酸钠的超分子水凝胶作为活性材料,设计了一种具有高直流电的绿色MEG。单个单元可产生约0.11 mW cm的改进功率密度、约1.31 mA cm的毫安级短路电流密度和约1.30 V的开路电压。通过理论计算和实验,这种优异的电力主要归因于增强的吸湿能力和保持的水梯度,以引发水凝胶内充足的离子传输。值得注意的是,通过并联集成的MEG阵列可实现约65 mA的增大电流。这种可扩展的MEGs能够在现实生活场景中直接为许多商业电子产品供电,例如为智能手表充电、点亮家用灯泡、驱动数字时钟一个月。这项工作为构建用于物联网和可穿戴应用的绿色、高性能和可扩展能源提供了新的见解。