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Energy Harvesting with Single‐Ion‐Selective Nanopores: A Concentration‐Gradient‐Driven Nanofluidic Power Source
Author(s) -
Guo Wei,
Cao Liuxuan,
Xia Junchao,
Nie FuQiang,
Ma Wen,
Xue Jianming,
Song Yanlin,
Zhu Daoben,
Wang Yugang,
Jiang Lei
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.200902312
Subject(s) - reversed electrodialysis , nanopore , osmotic power , energy harvesting , materials science , power density , nanotechnology , membrane , ion , electricity generation , power (physics) , ion exchange membranes , chemical physics , ion exchange , chemistry , thermodynamics , physics , reverse osmosis , biochemistry , organic chemistry , forward osmosis
Inspired by biological systems that have the inherent skill to generate considerable bioelectricity from the salt content in fluids with highly selective ion channels and pumps on cell membranes, herein, a fully abiotic single‐pore nanofluidic energy‐harvesting system that efficiently converts Gibbs free energy in the form of a salinity gradient into electricity is demonstrated. The maximum power output with the individual nanopore approaches ∼26 pW. By exploiting parallelization, the estimated power density can be enhanced by one to three orders over previous ion‐exchange membranes. A theoretical description is proposed to explain the power generation with the salinity‐gradient‐driven nanofluidic system. Calculation results suggest that the electric‐power generation and its efficiency can be further optimized by enhancing the surface‐charge density (up to 100 mC m −2 ) and adopting the appropriate nanopore size (between 10 and 50 nm). This facile and cost‐efficient energy‐harvesting system has the potential to power biomedical tiny devices or construct future clean‐energy recovery plants.