Researches on electrical energy generation from natural water movement on solid surface have received great attention because of their potentials as eco-friendly and highly-efficient energy conversion methods. One of them, the electricity generation driven by solid/liquid interfacial interactions in a porous electrode is presented interesting characteristics such as spontaneous and continuous energy production. However, veiled characteristics of the systems pose difficulty in actual applications of these phenomena. Herein, we presented a natural water capillarity-induced energy-conversion device (Voc of ~0.35 V, Isc of ~60 nA) using a minute volume of a single droplet (5 µL, 0.1 M NaCl solution) in a porous copper oxide nanowires (CuO NWs) film. Based on this, several important parameters influencing to the electricity generation (e.g. ion concentration, viscosity, and etc.) were investigated to study a working mechanism. We found that carrier movements in the CuO NWs film were induced by ionic dynamics at water capillarity and the CuO NWs interface. The experimental results demonstrate the applicability of the device as novel types of a natural water motion-induced energy generator and a liquid analytic sensor in the future.

Electrical energy generation from water droplets infiltration in porous copper oxide nanowires film

2019 Fall National Meeting

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