A fibrous hydroelectric generator derived from eco-friendly sodium alginate for low-grade energy harvesting

doi:10.1007/s11708-024-0930-z

Front. Energy

2024, Vol. 18

Issue (4) : 474-482 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11708-024-0930-z

A fibrous hydroelectric generator derived from eco-friendly sodium alginate for low-grade energy harvesting

Feng GONG¹, Jiaming SONG¹, Haotian CHEN¹, Hao LI²(

), Runnan HUANG¹, Yuhang JING¹, Peng YANG¹, Junjie FENG¹, Rui XIAO¹(

)

¹. Key Laboratory of Energy Thermal Conversion and Control of the Ministry of Education, School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
². Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

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Abstract

With the development of renewable energy technologies, the recovery and utilization of low-grade energy based on hydroelectric effect have drawn much attention owing to its environmental friendliness. Herein, a novel hydroelectric generator utilizing sodium alginate-graphene oxide (SA-GO) fibers is proposed, which is eco-friendly and low-cost. These fibers with a length of 5 cm and a diameter of 0.15 mm can generate an open circuit voltage (V_oc) of approximately 0.25 V and a short circuit current (I_sc) of 4 μA. By connecting SA-GO fibers in either series or parallel, this combination can power some electronic devices. Furthermore, these fibers enable the recovery of low-grade energy from the atmosphere or around the human body. Both experimental and theoretical analysis confirm that the directional flow of protons driven by water molecules is the main mechanism for power generation of SA-GO fibers. This study not only presents a simple energy transformation method that is expected to be applied to our daily life, but also provides a novel idea for the design of humidity electricity-generation devices.

Keywords fibrous hydroelectric generator sodium alginate (SA) graphene oxide (GO) power generation

Corresponding Author(s): Hao LI,Rui XIAO

About author:

Chunqi Yang contributed equally to this work.

Online First Date: 22 February 2024 Issue Date: 31 July 2024

Cite this article:

Feng GONG,Jiaming SONG,Haotian CHEN, et al. A fibrous hydroelectric generator derived from eco-friendly sodium alginate for low-grade energy harvesting[J]. Front. Energy, 2024, 18(4): 474-482.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fie/EN/10.1007/s11708-024-0930-z
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fie/EN/Y2024/V18/I4/474

Fig.1 Schematic diagram of fiber electricity generation process.

Fig.2 Characteristics of flexible fiber materials.

Fig.3 Electrical properties of flexible fibers.

Tab.1 Comparison of electricity generation between SA-GO and moist-electric power generations in references

Fig.4 Methods to improve the fiber power output.

Fig.5 Verification of principle of moisture generation of flexible fiber.

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