The continuous energy-harvesting in moisture environment is attractive for the development of clean energy source. Controlling the transport of ionized mobile charge in intelligent nanoporous membrane systems is a promising strategy to develop the moisture-enabled electric generator. However, existing designs still suffer from low output power density. Moreover, these devices can only produce short-term (mostly a few seconds or a few hours, rarely for a few days) voltage and current output in the ambient environment. Here, we show an ionic diode–type hybrid membrane capable of continuously generating energy in the ambient environment. The built-in electric field of the nanofluidic diode-type PN junction helps the selective ions separation and the steady-state one-way ion charge transfer. This directional ion migration is further converted to electron transportation at the surface of electrodes via oxidation-reduction reaction and charge adsorption, thus resulting in a continuous voltage and current with high energy conversion efficiency.
Harvesting electrical energy from different forms of water by using the hydrovoltaic effect is a promising approach to green energy acquisition. However, at present, different devices are required to obtain electrical energy from different water forms, and the output performance of the devices is not high, which greatly reduces the convenience and effectiveness of harvesting electrical energy from different water forms. Here, a carbon nanofiber electrode with a hierarchical porous structure capable of promoting water molecule adsorption, rapid penetration, and diffusion is reported. Besides, the electrode acts as a nanofluidic diode with anodic aluminum oxide in which the built‐in electric field drives selective separation and directional transport of ions and efficient ion/electron current conversion at the electrodes. Unlike typical hygroelectric devices, the device can work with moisture (93% relative humidity, 25 °C, open‐circuit voltage (VOC) ≈ 1.1 V, short‐circuit current density (JSC) ≈ 27 µA cm−2), water droplets (2 µL, VOC ≈ 1.03 V, JSC ≈ 640 µA cm−2), and bulk water (VOC ≈ 1.15 V, JSC ≈ 256 µA cm−2). It provides an efficient way to generate electricity in multiform water environment, greatly broadening the working scene and improving the adaptability of the device in complex weather environments.
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