Harvesting electrical energy which is converted from streaming potential induced by continuous water flow in nanochannel has great attention in sustainable energy management. In this study, we prepare a dual nano-capillary membrane by self-assembly of holey graphene oxide (HGO), which facilitates water molecules to highly permeate and evaporate at the same time. The driving force of HGO membrane to harvest efficient evaporation-induced energy is high capillary force through the nano-sized interlayer pathway and high rate of evaporation due to the presence of broadly distributed nano-sized pores. The HGO membrane yields a voltage of 0.44 V, current of 200 nA, and output energy density of 2.2 μWh cm<sup>−2</sup> for a sufficient time to charge an energy storage system for use in practical electrical devices. Therefore, the HGO membrane can be used in combined mass transport and energy harvesting applications, such as evaporative cooling and water desalination/extraction with osmotic power generation.

Holey graphene oxide membranes with dual nano-capillaries for efficient water evaporation-induced energy harvesting

ACS Spring 2022

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