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A droplet-based electricity generator with high instantaneous power density

Author

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  • Wanghuai Xu

    (City University of Hong Kong
    University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Huanxi Zheng

    (City University of Hong Kong)

  • Yuan Liu

    (University of Nebraska-Lincoln
    University of Nebraska-Lincoln)

  • Xiaofeng Zhou

    (City University of Hong Kong)

  • Chao Zhang

    (City University of Hong Kong)

  • Yuxin Song

    (City University of Hong Kong)

  • Xu Deng

    (University of Electronic Science and Technology of China)

  • Michael Leung

    (City University of Hong Kong)

  • Zhengbao Yang

    (City University of Hong Kong)

  • Ronald X. Xu

    (University of Science and Technology of China)

  • Zhong Lin Wang

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Xiao Cheng Zeng

    (University of Nebraska-Lincoln
    University of Nebraska-Lincoln)

  • Zuankai Wang

    (City University of Hong Kong
    Shenzhen Research Institute of City University of Hong Kong)

Abstract

Extensive efforts have been made to harvest energy from water in the form of raindrops1–6, river and ocean waves7,8, tides9 and others10–17. However, achieving a high density of electrical power generation is challenging. Traditional hydraulic power generation mainly uses electromagnetic generators that are heavy, bulky, and become inefficient with low water supply. An alternative, the water-droplet/solid-based triboelectric nanogenerator, has so far generated peak power densities of less than one watt per square metre, owing to the limitations imposed by interfacial effects—as seen in characterizations of the charge generation and transfer that occur at solid–liquid1–4 or liquid–liquid5,18 interfaces. Here we develop a device to harvest energy from impinging water droplets by using an architecture that comprises a polytetrafluoroethylene film on an indium tin oxide substrate plus an aluminium electrode. We show that spreading of an impinged water droplet on the device bridges the originally disconnected components into a closed-loop electrical system, transforming the conventional interfacial effect into a bulk effect, and so enhancing the instantaneous power density by several orders of magnitude over equivalent devices that are limited by interfacial effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Wanghuai Xu & Huanxi Zheng & Yuan Liu & Xiaofeng Zhou & Chao Zhang & Yuxin Song & Xu Deng & Michael Leung & Zhengbao Yang & Ronald X. Xu & Zhong Lin Wang & Xiao Cheng Zeng & Zuankai Wang, 2020. "A droplet-based electricity generator with high instantaneous power density," Nature, Nature, vol. 578(7795), pages 392-396, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:578:y:2020:i:7795:d:10.1038_s41586-020-1985-6
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-1985-6
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Xin Xia & Ziqing Zhou & Yinghui Shang & Yong Yang & Yunlong Zi, 2023. "Metallic glass-based triboelectric nanogenerators," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    2. Yunlong Xu & Zhongda Sun & Zhiqing Bai & Hua Shen & Run Wen & Fumei Wang & Guangbiao Xu & Chengkuo Lee, 2024. "Bionic e-skin with precise multi-directional droplet sliding sensing for enhanced robotic perception," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Yikui Gao & Lixia He & Di Liu & Jiayue Zhang & Linglin Zhou & Zhong Lin Wang & Jie Wang, 2024. "Spontaneously established reverse electric field to enhance the performance of triboelectric nanogenerators via improving Coulombic efficiency," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    4. Zhao, Kun & Song, Zhenhua & Sun, Wanru & Gao, Wei & Guo, Junhong & Zhang, Kewei, 2024. "Flexible neodymium iron boron/polyvinyl chloride (Nd2Fe14B/PVC) composite film based hybrid nanogenerator for efficient mechanical energy harvesting," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 300(C).
    5. Zhou, Han & Liu, Guoxu & Bu, Tianzhao & Wang, Zheng & Cao, Jie & Wang, Zhaozheng & Zhang, Zhi & Dong, Sicheng & Zeng, Jianhua & Cao, Xiaoxin & Zhang, Chi, 2024. "Autonomous cantilever buck switch for ultra-efficient power management of triboelectric nanogenerator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 357(C).
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    8. Weipeng Xian & Xiuhui Zuo & Changjia Zhu & Qing Guo & Qing-Wei Meng & Xincheng Zhu & Sai Wang & Shengqian Ma & Qi Sun, 2022. "Anomalous thermo-osmotic conversion performance of ionic covalent-organic-framework membranes in response to charge variations," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    9. Yuankai Jin & Siyan Yang & Mingzi Sun & Shouwei Gao & Yaqi Cheng & Chenyang Wu & Zhenyu Xu & Yunting Guo & Wanghuai Xu & Xuefeng Gao & Steven Wang & Bolong Huang & Zuankai Wang, 2024. "How liquids charge the superhydrophobic surfaces," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-8, December.
    10. Geon Lee & Hyunjung Kang & Jooyeong Yun & Dongwoo Chae & Minsu Jeong & Minseo Jeong & Dasol Lee & Miso Kim & Heon Lee & Junsuk Rho, 2024. "Integrated triboelectric nanogenerator and radiative cooler for all-weather transparent glass surfaces," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    11. Fan, Kangqi & Chen, Chenggen & Zhang, Baosen & Li, Xiang & Wang, Zhen & Cheng, Tinghai & Lin Wang, Zhong, 2022. "Robust triboelectric-electromagnetic hybrid nanogenerator with maglev-enabled automatic mode transition for exploiting breeze energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 328(C).
    12. Xu, Zhongwei & Li, Dianlun & Wang, Kun & Liu, Ye & Wang, Jiaxin & Qiu, Zhirong & Wu, Chaoxing & Lin, Jintang & Guo, Tailiang & Li, Fushan, 2022. "Stomatopod-inspired integrate-and-fire triboelectric nanogenerator for harvesting mechanical energy with ultralow vibration speed," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    13. Chaojie Chen & Shilong Zhao & Caofeng Pan & Yunlong Zi & Fangcheng Wang & Cheng Yang & Zhong Lin Wang, 2022. "A method for quantitatively separating the piezoelectric component from the as-received “Piezoelectric” signal," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    14. Yong Zhang & Tingting Yang & Kedong Shang & Fengmei Guo & Yuanyuan Shang & Shulong Chang & Licong Cui & Xulei Lu & Zhongbao Jiang & Jian Zhou & Chunqiao Fu & Qi-Chang He, 2022. "Sustainable power generation for at least one month from ambient humidity using unique nanofluidic diode," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    15. Thanh Ha Nguyen & Kyoung Kwan Ahn, 2023. "The Effect of a Magnetic Field on Solid–Liquid Contact Electrification for Streaming Flow Energy Harvesting," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-11, June.
    16. Chichu Qin & Dong Wang & Yumin Liu & Pengkun Yang & Tian Xie & Lu Huang & Haiyan Zou & Guanwu Li & Yingpeng Wu, 2021. "Tribo-electrochemistry induced artificial solid electrolyte interface by self-catalysis," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-11, December.
    17. Qiang, Ziyi & Cui, Peilin & Tian, Chenyun & Liu, Runkeng & Shen, Hong & Liu, Zhenyu, 2023. "Enhancing power generation for carbon black film device based on optimization of liquid capillary flow," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 351(C).
    18. Song Zhang & Mingchao Chi & Jilong Mo & Tao Liu & Yanhua Liu & Qiu Fu & Jinlong Wang & Bin Luo & Ying Qin & Shuangfei Wang & Shuangxi Nie, 2022. "Bioinspired asymmetric amphiphilic surface for triboelectric enhanced efficient water harvesting," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    19. Ye Lu & Longlong Jiang & Yang Yu & Dehua Wang & Wentao Sun & Yang Liu & Jing Yu & Jun Zhang & Kai Wang & Han Hu & Xiao Wang & Qingming Ma & Xiaoxiong Wang, 2022. "Liquid-liquid triboelectric nanogenerator based on the immiscible interface of an aqueous two-phase system," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    20. Di Liu & Linglin Zhou & Shengnan Cui & Yikui Gao & Shaoxin Li & Zhihao Zhao & Zhiying Yi & Haiyang Zou & Youjun Fan & Jie Wang & Zhong Lin Wang, 2022. "Standardized measurement of dielectric materials’ intrinsic triboelectric charge density through the suppression of air breakdown," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    21. Jiayue Tang & Yuanyuan Zhao & Mi Wang & Dianyu Wang & Xuan Yang & Ruiran Hao & Mingzhan Wang & Yanlei Wang & Hongyan He & John H. Xin & Shuang Zheng, 2022. "Circadian humidity fluctuation induced capillary flow for sustainable mobile energy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    22. Jin Tan & Sunmiao Fang & Zhuhua Zhang & Jun Yin & Luxian Li & Xiang Wang & Wanlin Guo, 2022. "Self-sustained electricity generator driven by the compatible integration of ambient moisture adsorption and evaporation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    23. Haohao Gu & Kaixin Meng & Ruowei Yuan & Siyang Xiao & Yuying Shan & Rui Zhu & Yajun Deng & Xiaojin Luo & Ruijie Li & Lei Liu & Xu Chen & Yuping Shi & Xiaodong Wang & Chuanhua Duan & Hao Wang, 2024. "Rewritable printing of ionic liquid nanofilm utilizing focused ion beam induced film wetting," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    24. Zhipeng Zhao & Huizeng Li & An Li & Wei Fang & Zheren Cai & Mingzhu Li & Xiqiao Feng & Yanlin Song, 2021. "Breaking the symmetry to suppress the Plateau–Rayleigh instability and optimize hydropower utilization," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-7, December.
    25. Hongcheng Tao & James Gibert, 2023. "Measuring gas discharge in contact electrification," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.

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