Kwon Yongbum, Bui-Vinh Dai, Lee Seung-Hwan, Baek So Hyun, Lee Songhui, Yun Jeungjai, Baek Minwoo, Lee Hyun-Woo, Park Jaebeom, Kim Miri, Yoo Minsang, Kim Bum Sung, Song Yoseb, Lee Handol, Lee Do-Hyun, Jeong Da-Woon
Korea National Institute of Rare Metals, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Incheon 21655, Republic of Korea.
Department of Environmental Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea.
Polymers (Basel). 2024 Apr 23;16(9):1180. doi: 10.3390/polym16091180.
Water evaporation-driven energy harvesting is an emerging mechanism for contributing to green energy production with low cost. Herein, we developed polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofiber-based evaporation-driven electricity generators (PEEGs) to confirm the feasibility of utilizing electrospun PAN nanofiber mats in an evaporation-driven energy harvesting system. However, PAN nanofiber mats require a support substrate to enhance its durability and stability when it is applied to an evaporation-driven energy generator, which could have additional effects on generation performance. Accordingly, various support substrates, including fiberglass, copper, stainless mesh, and fabric screen, were applied to PEEGs and examined to understand their potential impacts on electrical generation outputs. As a result, the PAN nanofiber mats were successfully converted to a hydrophilic material for an evaporation-driven generator by dip-coating them in nanocarbon black (NCB) solution. Furthermore, specific electrokinetic performance trends were investigated and the peak electricity outputs of were recorded to be 150.8, 6.5, 2.4, and 215.9 mV, and outputs were recorded to be 143.8, 60.5, 103.8, and 121.4 μA, from PEEGs with fiberglass, copper, stainless mesh, and fabric screen substrates, respectively. Therefore, the implications of this study would provide further perspectives on the developing evaporation-induced electricity devices based on nanofiber materials.
水蒸发驱动的能量收集是一种有助于低成本绿色能源生产的新兴机制。在此，我们开发了基于聚丙烯腈（PAN）纳米纤维的蒸发驱动发电机（PEEGs），以确认在蒸发驱动的能量收集系统中使用电纺PAN纳米纤维垫的可行性。然而，当将PAN纳米纤维垫应用于蒸发驱动发电机时，需要一个支撑基板来提高其耐久性和稳定性，这可能会对发电性能产生额外影响。因此，将包括玻璃纤维、铜、不锈钢网和织物筛网在内的各种支撑基板应用于PEEGs，并对其进行研究以了解它们对发电输出的潜在影响。结果，通过将PAN纳米纤维垫浸涂在纳米炭黑（NCB）溶液中，成功地将其转化为用于蒸发驱动发电机的亲水材料。此外，研究了特定的动电性能趋势，记录到分别带有玻璃纤维、铜、不锈钢网和织物筛网基板的PEEGs的峰值电输出为150.8、6.5、2.4和215.9 mV， 输出分别为143.8、60.5、103.8和121.4 μA。因此，本研究的意义将为基于纳米纤维材料的蒸发诱导发电装置的开发提供进一步的视角。
