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Nano Research 2024, 17(1): 307-311 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5906-5
Research Article | Issue | Published: 24 July 2023

Composite laminar membranes for electricity generation from water evaporation

Show Author's Information Xiao Wang1,  Gang Yuan1,  Han Zhou1,  Yu Jiang1,  Shuo Wang1,  Jiaojiao Ma1,  Chongyang Yang1,  Sheng Hu1,2,3( )
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Innovation Laboratory for Sciences and Technologies of Energy Materials of Fujian Province (IKKEM), Xiamen 361005, China
Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Keywords:
graphene oxide, mica, surface charge, water evaporation, ion selectivity, electrical double layer
Topics:
Energy
Cite this article:
Wang X, Yuan G, Zhou H, et al. Composite laminar membranes for electricity generation from water evaporation. Nano Research, 2024, 17(1): 307-311. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-023-5906-5
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

Harvesting clean energy from water evaporation has been extensively investigated due to its sustainability. To achieve high efficiency, energy conversion materials should contain multiple features which are difficult to be simultaneously obtained from single-component materials. Here we use composite laminar membranes assembled by nanosheets of graphene oxide and mica, and find a sustained power density induced by water evaporation that is two orders of magnitude larger than that from membranes made by either of the components. The power output is attributed to selective proton transport driven by water evaporation through the interlayer nanochannels in the membranes. This process relies on the synergistic effects from negatively charged and hydrophilic mica surfaces that are important for proton selectivity and water transport, and the tunable electrical conductivity of graphene oxide that provides optimized internal resistance. The demonstrated composite membranes offer a strategy of enhancing power generation by combining the advantages from each of their components.


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Abstract
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Electronic supplementary material
About this article

Composite laminar membranes for electricity generation from water evaporation

Show Author's information Xiao Wang1, Gang Yuan1, Han Zhou1, Yu Jiang1, Shuo Wang1, Jiaojiao Ma1, Chongyang Yang1, Sheng Hu1,2,3( )
State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
Innovation Laboratory for Sciences and Technologies of Energy Materials of Fujian Province (IKKEM), Xiamen 361005, China
Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China

Abstract

Harvesting clean energy from water evaporation has been extensively investigated due to its sustainability. To achieve high efficiency, energy conversion materials should contain multiple features which are difficult to be simultaneously obtained from single-component materials. Here we use composite laminar membranes assembled by nanosheets of graphene oxide and mica, and find a sustained power density induced by water evaporation that is two orders of magnitude larger than that from membranes made by either of the components. The power output is attributed to selective proton transport driven by water evaporation through the interlayer nanochannels in the membranes. This process relies on the synergistic effects from negatively charged and hydrophilic mica surfaces that are important for proton selectivity and water transport, and the tunable electrical conductivity of graphene oxide that provides optimized internal resistance. The demonstrated composite membranes offer a strategy of enhancing power generation by combining the advantages from each of their components.

Keywords: graphene oxide, mica, surface charge, water evaporation, ion selectivity, electrical double layer

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 26 April 2023
Revised: 22 May 2023
Accepted: 07 June 2023
Published: 24 July 2023
Issue date: January 2024

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press 2023

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge support from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2019YFA0705400), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21972121 and 22021001), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 20720210017).

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