Lab free protein-based moisture electric generators with a high electric output
Files
(Published version)
Date
2023
Authors
Zhu, R.
Zhu, Y.
Hu, L.
Guan, P.
Su, D.
Zhang, S.
Liu, C.
Feng, Z.
Hu, G.
Chen, F.
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type:
Journal article
Citation
Energy and Environmental Science, 2023; 16(5):2338-2345
Statement of Responsibility
Conference Name
Abstract
Moisture-electric generators (MEGs), harvesting ubiquitous moisture from the environment for electricity generation, have attracted great interest as power supply devices. However, there are great challenges associated with material availability, fabrication accessibility and operation environment, which are key factors to achieve high output with low cost for practical applications, and a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanism of interactions between MEGs and water is urgently required. Here, a whey protein available in supermarkets is used to fabricate low-cost MEGs with controllable performance through tuning surface charges and hydrophilicity, which provides new insights into the electricity generation mechanism and large-scale application. The MEGs exhibit the highest voltage output of 1.45 V at a room humidity level of 40% relative humidity. The whey protein films possess the merits of low cost (70 times cheaper than commonly used polymers), being flexible and semi-transparent, and having self-healing ability, presenting excellent comprehensive device performance. Besides, MEGs can operate well at extreme temperatures (-20 degrees C or 50 degrees C) and power a location tracker in a desert with 26% relative humidity. The modified functional layers with selective ion absorption and controllable outputs provided a deeper understanding of electricity generation in MEGs and demonstrated great potential in powering a wide range of electronic devices in various dynamic environments with high sustainability and reliability.
School/Discipline
Dissertation Note
Provenance
Description
Data source: Supplementary materials, https://doi.org/10.1039/d3ee00770g
Access Status
Rights
Copyright 2023 The Royal Society of Chemistry
Access Condition Notes: Accepted manuscript available after 1 April 2024